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HISTORY

ONCORD

NEW HAMPSHIRE

FROM THE ORIGINAL GRANT IN SEVENTEEN
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE TO THE
OPENING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

PREPARED UNDER THE
SUPERVISION OF THE
CITY HISTORY COMMISSION

JAMES O. LYFORD, Editor

Volume I

Authorized by the City Government January 14TH, 1896

THE RUMFORD PRESS,

CONCORD, N . H .

1903

THE HISTORY COM MISSION

OF CONCORD.

ORDINANCE CREATING CITY HISTORY COMMISSION.

CITY OF CONCORD.

IX THE YEAR OF OUR LORD ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND

NINETY-SIX.

AN ORDINANCE
Providing for a History of the City of Concord.

Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Concord as follows:

That Amos Hadley, Howard F. Hill, Benjamin A. Kimball,
James O. Lyford, Lyman I). Stevens, and John M. Mitchell be and
the same are herein' appointed and constituted a committee of which
the mayor shall be ex officio a member and chairman, all to serve
without pay, to employ some competent and satisfactory person to
write the history of Concord to the present time and to procure its
publication, said committee to devise some plan or project whereby
the city, as such, shall be saved from considerable expense in the
matter, subscriptions to be obtained to the work, and data and mate-
rial collected for the same : and for said purposes the sum of two
hundred dollars is hereby appropriated from any money in the treas-
ury not otherwise appropriated, subject to the order of the duly-
elected treasurer of said committee upon its organization, and to be
expended under the direction of the committee.

The said committee to be known as the City History Commission,
the members thereof to serve until others are elected in their stead,
and any vacancy in said commission from death, resignation, or ina-
bility shall be filled immediately by election in the ( ity Council and
said Commission shall report progress from time to time to the City
Council, and shall incur no expense beyond the sum of two hundred
dollars hereby appropriated without first obtaining proper authoriza-
tion from the City Council therefor.

In Board of Mayor and Aldermen January 14, 1896.

Henry Robinson, Mayor.

In Common Council January 14, 1890.
Passed in concurrence.

Harry R. Hood, President.

PEEFACE.

The first public consideration of a history of Concord to supple-
ment that of Dr. Nathaniel Bouton was at a meeting of the Commer-
cial club in the whiter of 1893. The subject was brought to the
attention of the club by Postmaster Robinson, and received favorable
consideration. No action was taken, however, until December, 1895,
when in consultation with several citizens Mr. Robinson, then mayor,
suggested that some expression of the public be obtained by petition.
Following out this suggestion Isaac Andrew Hill prepared and circu-
lated the following petition :

To the Honorable Henry Robinson,

Mayor of Concord :

As mayor of our city and as president of the Concord Commercial
club, we beg to call your attention and to ask your co-operation as
far as may be proper, to the subject of a history of Concord.

It is now nearly half a century since Dr. Bouton completed his
work, and the book is now long out of print, and almost impossible
to buy.

Since 1853 we have become a municipality. We feel that the
time is now ripe for the preparation of a, history embodying these
great changes, both material and personal, and we respectfully re-
quest you to call the attention of the aldermen and common council
to this most desirable undertaking.

Benjamin A. Kimball, Franklin D. Ayer,

James S. Norris, F. J. Aiken,

Lewis Downing, Jr., Woodbridge Odltn,

John M. Hill, Lyman D. Stevens,

John Kimball, John Whitaker,

Leland A. Smith, Daniel B. Donovan,

Joseph B. Walker, Milon I). Clmmings,

George A. Cummlngs, Cyrus R. Robinson.

Edson J. Hill,

This formal presentation of the project was read on December 10,
1895, before a convention of the city council, and was referred to a
special committee composed of Mayor Robinson, Aldermen John F.
Webster and David F. Dudley, and Councilmen George W. Bunker

PREFACE. \

and Charles S. Piper. This committee reported favorably January
14, 1896, to the city council, introducing an ordinance, drawn by the
mayor, providing for a history of Concord, appointing a commission
to carry out the undertaking, and appropriating two hundred dollars
to develop a plan of the history. The commission consisted of the
mayor, ex officio, chairman, Amos Hadley, Howard F. Hill, Benjamin
A. Kimball, James O. Lyford, Lyman I). Stevens, and John M.
Mitchell.

This commission met at the office of Benjamin A. Kimball at the
passenger railway station Saturday morning, February 1, 1896, and
perfected an organization by the choice of James O. Lyford as secre-
tary, who was subsequently chosen editor. An executive committee
was appointed consisting of the mayor, James ( ). Lyford, and How-
ard F. Hill. The executive committee was directed to prepare and
recommend to the commission a general plan of the history.

The second meeting of the commission was held February 10,
1896, at which the executive committee reported its plan, which was
discussed by the commission, and then it was voted to ask the city
council to appropriate two thousand five hundred dollars for the
preparation of the history, the appropriation to be in the nature
of a loan of the city's credit, the commission to secure subscriptions
to that amount before asking for any further appropriation. At a
regular meeting of the city council February 11, 1896, the request of
the commission was granted and the appropriation made.

The plan of the history, as outlined by the commission and fol-
lowed in the preparation of the work, provided for a general narra-
tive, giving the story of the settlement of Concord and its growth
from the date of its founding to the close of the year 1896. The
general narrative was to be supplemented by a topical treatment of
those subjects which could be better considered separately than in
the general story. As the work progressed it was found that more
time would be required to complete the history, and the date of
closing it was extended to the beginning of the new century. Sub-
sequently the various writers were engaged and the patient exam-
ination of data went forward. In the meantime a prospectus of the
history was prepared and the soliciting of subscriptions begun.
Within a year, and before any of the manuscript had been submitted

VI PREFACE.

to the commission, subscriptions to the amount of three thousand
three hundred dollars were secured, showing the popular interest in
the subject.

The commission was appointed to serve without compensation,
and no member thereof has drawn anything from the city treasury
for his services as commissioner, while two, at least, have contrib-
uted financially to the success of the enterprise. All members of the
commission are engaged in active business, yet it would be difficult
to find a commission whose members have attended meetings with
more regularity and punctuality. From the beginning of the work
the commission has held at least two hundred and fifty meetings,
and these meetings cover five city administrations, — those of Mayors
Robinson, Woodworth, Martin, Sargent, and Corning. The meetings
have been held at the office of Mr. Kimball, which he early gave to
the use of the commission.

It has been the object of the commission to produce the history
without material expense to the city beyond the loan of its credit.
To this end the commission has sought voluntary contributions from
those who were hi a position to make them, and for such literary
labor as it has given compensation the price paid is far from ade-
quate for the time spent and the material prepared. To secure this
result the contributions and employments have had to be subsidiary
to other duties, which necessarily lias delayed the completion of the
work. This has not been without its advantages, for it has secured
greater accuracy and condensation of statement. Since the first
manuscript was ready tor examination the work of each writer has
been read to the full board for comment and criticism. In this work
of examining manuscript the commission has had the assistance of
the following citizens, who have attended its meetings in response to
an invitation from the commission and have acted as associate mem-
bers: Lewis Downing, Jr., Joseph lb Walker, Henry McFarland,
Charles R. Corning, John C. Ordway, and Giles Wheeler.
The following articles are the gifts of the authors :

Physical Features of Concord . .Joseph B. Walker.

Physical Development of Concord . Joseph B. Walker.

Canals, Stage Lines, and Taverns . Henry McFarland.

Concord as a Railroad Center . Henry McFarland.

PREFACE.

Nil

Medical History ....
( 1 lurch History ....
State Hospital ....
Margaret Pillsbury Hospital .
Hospital for Women and Children
Dentistry .....
Schools, Public and Private .
Concord Literary Institution .
Methodist General Biblical Institute
Newspapers .....
State Prison .....
Concord in the Civil War
St. Paul's School ....
St. Mary's School ....
The Rolfe and Rumford Asylum .
The Governor's Horse Guards
Fish and Game ....
Official Roster of Concord

Jacob H. Gallinger.
James O. Lyford.
Joseph B. Walker.
James O. Lyford.
James O. Lyford.
James O. Lyford.
John C. Ordway.
John C. Ordway.
John C. Ordway.
Frank W. Rollins.
Joseph P>. Walker.
Howard F. Hill.
James O. Lyford.
Thomas C. Bethune.
Joseph B. Walker.
James O. Lyford.
Frank Battles.

James O. Lyford.

The special topics have relieved the general narrator, Amos Had-
ley, of the necessity of breaking the thread of his story by turning
aside to give details on such subjects, which often detracts from
the merits of a history, while the writers who have dealt with these
special subjects have had opportunity to give a continuous account
of the themes which they have treated. In addition to this there is
a variety of style in the writing, which it is hoped will make the
history more pleasing to the public.

The history is the joint production of citizens of Concord, some of
them natives and all of them long-time residents. The illustrations
have been in charge of Henry B. Colby, and have been prepared
under the supervision of Benjamin A. Kimball. To obviate any
cpiestion of discrimination, no portraits of individuals living or dead
have been used. The illustrating has been of places and buildings
of historic interest, public buildings, and such scenes of the past and
present as posterity would desire to have preserved. The reading of
the revised proof has been the contribution of Edward N. Pearson.

The spirit of tins undertaking has been to give as complete,
readable, and accurate a history of Concord as possible, exploiting

Vlll PREFACE.

no enterprise and no individual, but preserving in compact form all

those facts and incidents which present and future generations will

find useful, instructive, and entertaining. How well the commission

lias succeeded the public can best judge when this book is in their

hands.

Charles R. Corning (ex ' t <//?Wo),

Amos Hadley,

Howard F. Hill,

Benjamin A. Kimball,

James O. Lyford,

Lyman 1). Stevens,

John M. Mitchell,

City History Commission.

To the secretary and editor, James O. Lyford, credit should be
given for the labor he has performed and the capacity he has shown
in the preparation of this history. His contributions to its pages are
but a part of his work. The plan of the history, combining a general
narrative with topical treatment of special subjects, is his, and the
burden of securing voluntary contributions, conducting correspond-
ence, arranging material, and attending to the many details, has fallen
upon him. The ability with which he has discharged these duties
has contributed in no small degree to the success of the undertaking.

Charles R. Corning.

Amos Hadley.

Howard F. Hill.

Benjamin A. Kimball.

Lyman D. Stevens.

John M. Mitchell.

ACT OF LEGISLATURE CREATING HISTORY COMMISSION OF CONCORD.

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IX THE YEAR OF OUE LORD ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND

THREE.

AN ACT

To Incorporate the History Commission of Concord.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court convened :

Section 1. That the mayor of Concord, Amos Hadley, Howard
F. Hill, Benjamin A. Kimball, James ( ). Lyford, Lyman I). Stevens,
and John M. Mitchell, their successors and assigns, shall be and
hereby are made a body politic and corporate by the name of the
History Commission of Concord.

Sect. 2. This corporation shall receive, when published, all copies
of the History of Concord, authorized by said city by ordinance
passed January 14, 1896, and ordinances and resolutions supple-
mentary thereto, and shall have the custody and control thereof, and
shall provide for their sale, fixing the price thereof with the approval
of the City Councils of Concord, and account to said city for all
moneys received therefrom.

Sect. 3. This corporation is empowered to appoint an agent or
agents to carry out its work and to fix their compensation.

Sect. 4. Any vacancy in the incorporators shall be filled by the
city councils upon recommendation of the remaining members.

Sect. 5. The mayor of Concord, Amos Hadley, Howard F. Hill,
and James ( ). Lyford, or any two of them, may call the first meeting
of this corporation not later than May 1st, 1903, and at said meeting
or any adjournment thereof may take such measures as are necessary
to complete its organization.

Sect. 6. This act shall take effect upon its passage.

[Approved March 24, 1903.]

The incorporators of the foregoing act met April 4, 1903, and or-
ganized by the choice of Lyman D. Stevens as president, Howard F.
Hill as clerk, and Benjamin A. Kimball as treasurer. Notice of the
acceptance of the act of incorporation and of the organization was
filed with the mayor and City Councils, who accepted and approved
the same April 13, 1903.

CONTENTS

Joseph B. Walkei

VOLUME I.

Physical Features — Joseph B. Walker
Topography

Streams

Ponds

Freshets

Forests

Mineral Resources

Artesian Well

Localities . . .

P HYSICAL DEVELO P.M LX T

Ferries

Bridges

Main Street

Shade Trees

Types of Houses
Fish axd Game — Frank Battles
General Narrative — Amos Hadley

Chapter 1 — Scene of the History. Aboriginal Occupa
tion ........

Chapter 2 — Events leading to English ( )ccupation
Grant of the Plantation of Penacook

Chapter 3 — Plantation of Penacook. Transition to the
Township of Rumford .....

Chapter 4 — Town of Rumford. Falls within Jurisdic
tion of New Hampshire .....

Chapter 5 — District of Rumford. King George's War
and its Indian Hostilities

Chapter 6 — Rumford neither Town nor District. Bow
Controversy and Matters connected therewith. Colo-
nization by Concord Settlers . . . . .

Chapter 7 — Last French and Indian War. Rumford
becomes Concord, a Parish of Bow . . . .

Chapter 8 — Parish of Concord. Period of the American
Revolution ........

PAGE
1

9
11
12
17

20
22
23
33
33
35
43
49
53
59
65

107

147

160

188
222
245

( ( intents. xi

( . eneral Narrative :

Chapter 9 — Town of Concord. Post Revolutionary
Events. Constitution of the United States. Revised
State Constitution. Town Affairs and Progress . 287

Chapter 10 — Town of Concord. Early Events of the
New Century. Becomes the Capital of the State.
War of 1812. Other Facts of the Period . . 315

Chapter 11 — Town of Concord. The State House
Erected. Toleration Act. Merrimack County Formed.
Other Events ....... 346

Chapter 12 — Town of Concord. Temperance Reform.
Religious, Social, Intellectual, and Material Progress.
Catholic-Irish Immigration. Political Events. City
Charter Adopted . . . . . . .373

Chapter 13 — City of Concord. New Government in
Operation. City and County Building. Public Li-
brary. The Prohibitory Law. Progress in Various
Departments. Ante-War Politics .... 137

Chapter 14— City of Concord. Period of the Civil War. 481

Chapter 15 — City of Concord. After the War. Impor-
tant Means Adopted whereby the General Advantage
of the Community was Subserved .... 522

Chapter 16— City of Concord, 1880 to 1900. Two Dec-
ades of Progress. Topics, old and new, treated to
Conclusion ........ 543

Material Development — Charles R. Corning (Chapter 17) 613
Weather Record from 1856 to 1900 inclusive — Will-
iam W. Flint (Chapter 18) 667

The Governor's Horse Guards — James 0. Lyford (Ap-
pendix).

ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOLUME I.

State House, 1816 to 1865

Course of Merrimack River, 1726

Leavitt's Plan of River Course, 1804

Loammi Baldwin's Plan of River Course, 1836

Badger's Plan of River Course, 1855

First Concord Bridge, 1795

Plan of Concord about 1827

The Log House

The Frame Cottage

The Cambrel Roof House

The Box Trap House

The Two-story Square House

The Nearly Flat Roof House

The Cable Front House

The Mansard or French Roof House

The Queen Anne House

The Colonial House

The Romanesque House

P.eorawarrah's Gun

Hannah Dustin Monument

The Log Meeting-house

( )ld Burying Yard

Monument to Commemorate First Service

Badger's Plan of Proprietors' Lots

Garrison around Reverend Timothy Walker's Dwelling

The Bradley Monument

Facsimile of Petition for Aid, 1744

Plan illustrating Bow Controversy

First Frame Meeting-house, with subsequent Additions

"Elm Croft" in 1900 .

Old Town House, 1790

The Philip Carrigain House

Main Street in 1798

Merrimack County Bank

Frontispiece
2
3
4
5

48, 49

.^^

120

128

138

146

171

185

186

217

274

280

297

309

314

324

ILLUSTRATIONS.

X ill

The Fort Burying Ground, now Old Fort Cemetery
The Old Pound ....

Old Horse Sheds ....

City Hall and County Court House
Main Street, looking North from Pleasant Street, with Ma-
sonic Temple at Left, 1900 .
Old Post-office, on Site of Board of Trade Buildin
View of Concord from South
Central Fire Station ....

Board of Trade Building

State Street, rear of State House, 1880

First Centennial Home for Aged

Present Centennial Home for Aged

Concord, from Cupola of Court House .

Pumping Station • .

Eno-ine House at Penacook

Contoocook River Park

Entrance to Blossom Hill Cemetery

Police Station, Warren Street

Police Station, Penacook

The Fowler Library ....

View of Great Bend from Passaconaway Club
Club Houses ......

Main Street, looking South from Park Street
Main Street, looking South from Centre Street

Call's Block

The Post-office ......

The State Library .....

Odd Fellows" Home

The Chadbourne and Stearns House

The Bogers House .....

Hay Scales in Smoky Hollow

House where First Legislature met in Concord

Granite Quarries .....

View of Penacook, showing Dam and Stone Mill

New Hampshire Savings Bank

Mechanicks National and Merrimack County Savings Bank

National State Capital and Loan and Trust Savings Banks

Old Bank Building ....

First National and Union Guaranty Savings Banks

342
343
432
443

454
466
497
524
530
533
537
537
542
545
550
562
564
569
570
572
582
584
595
5H7
599
600
602
609
618
619
621
622
634
648
658
660
660
661
061

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

Topography, Streams, Ponds, Freshets, Forests, Minerals,

Artesian Well, Localities.

Joseph B. Walker.
TOPOGRAPHY.

The township of Concord, which has a length from north to south
of about eight miles and a breadth of about seven and three quar-
ters, embracing an area of about thirty-nine thousand acres, forms a
section of the Merrimack valley. Its surface, for the most part
moderately uneven, slopes inward from its sides to the original flood
plain of the river, which divides it into two unequal parts, leaving
on its east side a little more than one third, and on the opposite a
little less than two thirds, of its whole area.

Its highest elevations are found in its northeastern and north-
western sections. Some of these rise to heights of over five hundred
feet above the sea level, the highest being the summit of Rattlesnake
hill, which the United States Coast Survey has found to have an
altitude of seven hundred and eighty-three feet. Inasmuch as the
low-water mark of the river is two hundred and twenty-five feet
above the ocean, it will be perceived that the city's different eleva-
tions above that point vary from its level up to five hundred and
fifty-eight feet.

Six considerable basins hold the waters of as many ponds : Great
and Little Turkey ponds, having a combined area of two hundred
and seventy-four acres, Long pond of three hundred and thirty-nine
acres, Little pond of five acres, Horse Shoe pond of fifteen acres, Tur-
tle pond of one hundred and forty-six acres, and Snow's pond of
sixty-two acres. The four first mentioned lie in the westerly part of
the township and the two last in its easterly section. These, together
with the rivers and brooks, afford a water surface of about two thou-
sand acres.

Precisely how, by ice and other eroding forces, the hand of Omnip-
otence carved into its present form that portion of the earth's crust
which lies within the boundaries of Concord, we know but in part.
As yet we see through plausible conjecture darkly, and it little
becomes one to strain his vision in vain speculations beyond the lim-

HISTOIiY OF CONCOKD.

its of its present power. Some of the operations of these forces,
however, are patent to superficial observation, and of these it may
be allowable to speak.

When, in prehistoric time, the great glacier which had filled the
Merrimack valley withdrew, it left behind it an extensive plain of
modified drift, composed mostly of sand. This, varying greatly

in width, extended
from north to south
through the entire
township, occupying
an area of nearly
nine thousand (8837)
acres.

This vast sheet of
sand, varying in its
thickness from one
to one hundred and
fifty feet, formed for
a time the flood plain
of the Merrimack.
But such was its
composition that the
river began at once
to deepen its chan-
nel and transport its
excavations to the
lower levels along its
course and at its en-
trance to the sea.
Pari passu with this
sinking of its bed,
the northwest winds
swayed laterally its
current from east to
west, and from west
to east, alternately.
The action of these forces, operating in combination with gravity,
formed in time new flood plains, each succeeding one being lower
than its predecessor. Of these, the remains are yet visible in the
broad steps which rise above the interval.

This sinking of its bed continued until the river encountered the
solid material of the earlier formation, upon which the glacier had
spread the expanse of modified drift before mentioned. But, while

Course of Merrimack River in I 726.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

the ledges in the former arrested the farther depression of the river's
channel, it interfered but slightly, if at all, with its lateral move-
ments. Since then it has been swayed back and forth, us before
mentioned.

So serpentine, in time, became the river's course, within the limits
of this township, that the Indians affixed to the locality the descriptive
name of " Penny
Cook," the crooked
place. Since its de-
pression ceased, the
present interval has
been its only flood
plain. This varies
but little in extent
or character of sur-
face, and has an
area of about four
and a half thou-
sand (4547) acres.

Through this, —
" like Bacchus reel-
ing and drunken,"
the river has stag-
gered on its uncer-
tain way, making
six different loops
in as many miles,
abrading in high
water its southerly
bank, and, in unsat-
isfactory compen-
sation therefor, fill-
ing with sand such
opposite portions of
its channel as in
this movement it
has abandoned. Upon the flats thus formed, willows and other allu-
vium-loving plants have sprung up, to arrest in flood times the silt
suspended in its waters and there precipitate it ; thereby raising these
low surfaces to elevations corresponding to the general level of the
interval.

Many of the wanderings of the river over its most recent flood
plain may be easily traced and with an interest always attaching to

Leavitt's Plan of River's Course in I 804.

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

indisputable geologic records. Some of the most marked changes
of its course may be seen by comparing with one another the five
accompanying plans, covering a period of one hundred and seventy-
four years :

1. Plan of the Surveyors of the Township, 1726.

2. Plan of Jeremiah Leavitt, 1804.

3.^ Plan of Loammi Baldwin, drawn from surveys of the river made
for the Sewall's Falls Canal Co. in 1836.

4. Plan made in 1855 by Stephen C. Badger for Bouton's History
of Concord.

5. Plan of Will B. Howe, city engineer, of the River and Flood
Plains, in 1900.

A comparison of Leavitt's plan with that of Baldwin, made thirty-
two years later, shows remarkable changes during that period. On the

11 th of August,
1828, the river cut
for itself a new
channel across the
eastern end of the
tongue of land pro-
jecting westward
from Sugar Ball
interval, and there-
by transferred thir-
ty acres of land
from its eastern to
its western shore.
Three years later,
in 1831, it reversed
this action by sev-
ering about five
acres from Hale's
point, on its west
side, and leaving
it on the other.
This straightening
of its course by the
obliteration of the
two most notable
bends has done
much to destroy
the significance of

Loammi Baldwin's Plan of River's Course in 1836. till' liailie of "Pell-

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

origi-

ny Cook,"
nally attached to
this locality. Horse
Shoe island is an-
other instance of
similar severance
and transfer by the
river of some sev-
enty-five acres from
its east to its west
side, at some re-
mote date in the
aboriginal period.
This pond plainly
indicates a previ-
ous river channel
now largely oblit-
erated by decayed
aquatic vegetation
and silt.

During the last
sixty years, the riv-
er has moved east-
ward from its for-
mer bank, near the
south end of Main
street, 1500 feet
and south-easterly

1 900 * TwifP m'llPP Badger's Plan of the Course of Merrimack River in 1855.

1885 has the Wyatt house, upon the bluff opposite that point, been
moved back on account of the river's encroachments.

In 1855 a tract of land situated in the upper part of Wattanum-
mon's field, bought by the late Benjamin Farnum of the heirs of Capt.
Eliphalet Emery, had an area of forty acres. Measured in June,
1900, it was found to contain but about twenty-seven acres, the river
having in the meantime washed away thirteen, being an average of
about twenty-nine one hundredths of an acre each year, and corre-
spondingly increased the flat upon its opposite shore. Tradition
says that this transfer was initiated by the removal of the bushes
which once lined its southerly bank.

Since 1726 the largest portion of seven lots formerly abutting
upon the Fan road have been washed away and about thirty-five

1 Measurements of Maj. Lewis Downing, Jr.

o" HISTORY OF CONCORD.

acres, formerly upon the south side of the river, must now be sought
for on its north side or in its channel. According to the survey of
the interval, made in the year just mentioned, the river was distant
from the East Concord road, by way of the Fan road, two hundred
and twenty-three rods. Its distance is now (June, 1900) but one
hundred and fifty. During the last seventy years the Fan point has
moved eastward some fifty rods, and the bluff opposite has receded
a like distance.

A marked change in the river's course has occurred at Penacook,
a few rods below the Northern Railroad station. Here many acres
have been washed away from the northerly side of the Rolfe interval,
while its easterly side has been greatly enlarged at the expense of
the land adjoining the river's opposite shore.

( hie result of the turning of the entire volume of the river into
its east channel, at the upper end of Sewall's island, has been a
severe abrasion of its east bank for a distance of half a mile or more
and a corresponding accretion to its opposite shore of some twenty-
five acres.

Another has been a later infringement of the river upon its west-
ern shore, just below the south end of this island, whereby land to
the amount of three or four acres has been washed away and serious
injury done to the fields below by covering their rich soil with coat-
ings of barren sand.

A large portion of its former channels on the west side of Sewall's
island and of Goodwin's point, from which the Northern Railroad
excluded the river in 1S-M!, has since been* filled with sand and
decayed vegetation. Eventually but few traces of its occupancy
will remain.

It is interesting to observe upon the river's present flood plain its
more recent changes of course. Those of prehistoric dates, however,
are mostly obscure, and, like the movements of the aborigines, can
be traced with difficulty and uncertainty.

The changes of the river's course thus far mentioned have been
natural changes. Allusion should not be omitted to an artificial
one, made, and before alluded to, by the Northern Railroad in 1846,
whereby the peninsula known as Goodwin's point, of about forty
acres, was cut oft' by the river's diversion to a new channel excavated
across its junction to the main laud.

The abrasions above mentioned have been often arrested by coat-
ing the slopes of endangered banks with rubble. In a few years
bushes generally take root beneath it, around which sand gathers and
renders them sufficiently firm to successfully resist all assaults of
floods and ice, and breakings no longer occur. About fifty years

23,66(3

acres

8,837

4,547

2,000

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 7

ago some one hundred and twenty-five rods of the river's south bank
above Federal bridge was thus protected, and no loss by washing
has since taken place. Like action, with like results, has been taken
at other exposed sections.

From the foregoing statements it will be seen that the surface of
Concord consists, approximately, of :

Post-tertiary drift, of various elevations .
Modified drift, mostly of plain surface
River alluvium .....
Water areas ......

Whole area 39,050 "

The soil varies, from the dry and porous sand of the pine plains
and the fine humus-bearing alluvium of the interval, to the more or
less rocky and clayey formations of the post-tertiary age.

Somewhat more than half of the land in Concord is suitable for
tillage, while the remainder, too rough for the plough, is well adapted
to grazing and to the production of wood and timber. Here and
there, on limited areas, the underlying rock formation protrudes
above the surface and supplies material for one of the city's greatest
industries. Millions of cubic yards of choicest granite have been
taken from Rattlesnake hill, and millions of millions more await the
quarryman's drill.

The importance of the subject seems to warrant farther allusion to
the soils of Concord. There are four leading varieties :

1. The alluvial soil of the interval. This is fine grained, fairly
moist, granitic, and contains assimilable plant food sufficient to pro-
duce moderate crops of ordinary farm products without amendment.
It is free of stones and easily manipulated. Adequate fertilization
renders it highly productive.

2. The modified drift soil of the plains. This is of coarser texture
than the foregoing, is more porous, contains but little humus, is easily
affected by droughts, holds manures in a loose grasp, and is subject
to early frosts. It is better adapted to cereals than to grasses. It
is a little more easily wrought than the land of the interval. With
proper culture, it yields moderate crops of rye, oats, corn, buckwheat,
grass, and roots.

3. The upland soil. This is usually warm, friable, retentive of
moisture, well supplied with humus, and adapted to the production
of almost all ordinary farm crops. But it is often pretty full of
stones when first cleared of the forest. Until these are removed, its
manipulation is laborious and expensive.

4. Mucky Soils. Frequent tracts of these, of varying areas, are

8 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

found in all considerable sections of Concord. Some of them consist
of decomposed vegetation and the wash of surrounding hills, some
of decayed aquatic plants, mingled with river silt. They are all more
or less rich in nitrogen and some of them in potash. When properly
drained, they make grass fields of much value. As yet, but few of
them have been very thoroughly improved.

The soil-sheet which covers the underlying rock formation of Con-
cord varies much in thickness. The latter undulates in sudden
elevations and depressions, and the stratum of earth resting upon it
conforms, more or less, to these. At the works of the Page Belting
Company, on Penacook street, the surface of the bed rock has been
found at a depth of about eighty feet below that of the ground ; at
Toofs laundry, just west of Main street, between School and Warren
streets, at fifty-seven and a half feet ; at the Concord & Portsmouth
Railroad bridge, at Turkey Falls, at about twenty feet.

It may be further remarked of the surface of Concord that it rises
on each side from the river's level by three broad steps to elevations
of from four to five hundred feet on its western and the northern half
of its eastern border. Along the southern half of the latter it sinks
to the level of the Soucook river, which forms the city's southeastern
boundary.

The first step upwards from the Merrimack to the interval makes
a rise, varying from three or four to fifteen feet. The second from
the interval to the plain makes another of from a hundred to a hun-
dred and twenty feet. From the plain the ground ascends in irregular
slopes to the side lines before mentioned.

The surface of the two first steps is nearly level, the variations
therefrom rarely exceeding ten feet. That of the third is very uneven.
On the west side of the river it is characterized by three parallel
ranges of hills and intervening valleys, the crests of the former some-
times rising into conspicuous summits designated by particular names.

Along the first or most easterly range, on the west side of the
Merrimack, are found Rum, Parsonage, Dagody, and Rattlesnake sum-
mits, rising to the respective altitudes of five hundred, six hundred
and seventy-five, six hundred and forty, and seven hundred and
eighty-three feet above the level of the sea.

In the second are found the summits known as Silver hill, having a
height of four hundred feet ; Jerry hill, of seven hundred and twenty-
five ; Pine hill, of eight hundred and ten ; and Horse hill, of seven
hundred and sixty.

Along the third range, which skirts the Hopkinton line, rise Stick-
ney hill, having an altitude of five hundred feet ; Dimond Hill, of six
hundred and eighty ; and Beech hill, of seven hundred and seventy-five.

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 9

On the east side of the river the high ground is confined to a
single chain of hills, commencing near Sewall's Falls and sweeping
around easterly and southeasterly, in a semi-circle to the Soucook.
In this are found the rounded elevations known as the Mountain,
Oak hill, and the broken ground, having in the order of their men-
tion altitudes of seven hundred, nine hundred and thirty, and seven

hundred and twenty feet.

STREAMS.

Merrimack River. The principal river of Concord is the Merrimack.
The headwaters of its most northern west branch are found about the
bases of the Pemigewasset, Profile, and Flume mountains, in Lincoln
and Franconia ; while those of its most northern east branch may be
traced to the feet of Mount Willey, in Bethlehem, and of the moun-
tains in Waterville and Livermore.

Along its banks and those of its main tributaries, in aboriginal
times, lay important Indian trails from the mountains to the ocean.
These formed sections of one of the great Indian routes from the
Canadas to the Massachusetts coast. As the red man receded west-
ward, they were broadened to carriage highways, to be paralleled in
time by steam and electric railroads.

From the top of Sewall's Falls dam to the foot of Garvin's Falls,
the Merrimack makes a descent of fifty feet, furnishing to Concord a
single water-power of about fifteen feet at the falls first mentioned.
Its volume, which has an average summer width of about four hun-
dred feet, is considerably increased within this city's limits by the
waters of the Contoocook, which enter it at Penacook, and by those
of several minor streams along its banks.

The population of the Merrimack valley, if it be allowed to consist
of the two tiers of towns which fine its banks from its main forks at
Franklin to its mouth at Newburyport, is probably denser than that
of any other extra-urban section of the United States. AVhile, in
1890, the population of New Hampshire numbered 41.31 persons to
the square mile, of Massachusetts 278.41, and of Rhode Island
318.44, that of the Merrimack valley was 471.

Contoocook River. The stream next in size to the Merrimack is
the Contoocook. It enters the city near its northwest corner, and
after flowing southerly and easterly in a tortuous course of about
seven miles, joins the Merrimack at Penacook. It has an average
width of some two hundred feet, and from the top of the dam at
Contoocook River Park to its outlet it makes a descent of one hun-
dred and eleven feet, furnishing at different points four important
water-powers. To these the flourishing village just mentioned is
largely indebted for its prosperity.

10 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Turkey River. Turkey river, a much smaller stream than the
Contoocook, drains the ponds bearing this name. It has a varying
width of some twenty to thirty feet, and a length of about three
miles. At the end of a total fall of a little more than three hundred
feet, it joins the Merrimack in Bow, near the north line of that town,
having furnished six mill privileges along its course, the upper four of
which are in Concord. Of these, only two are now utilized. For-
merly the four at and near St. Paul's School were occupied by a grist-
mill, a clothing mill, and two sawmills.

This stream has interesting associations with literary celebrities.
Upon its bank Nathaniel H. Carter, Concord's earliest and sweetest
poet, was born, September 17, 1787. During the last half century it
has had intimate relations with the boys of St. Paul's School, similar
to those existing between the Thames and the boys of the ancient
school at Eton. Half a mile from it Dr. John Farmer, in his day the
most distinguished historian and genealogist in New England, breathed
his last, on the 13th day of August, 1838. In the same house, some
five years later, passed from earth the spirit of the gifted Mary Clark,
on the 9th day of May, 1841.

Soucook River. The Soucook forms the southeastern boundary of
Concord, separating it from Pembroke and belonging in part to each
township. From the point where it first touches the territory of the
latter in a straight line to its mouth, the distance is about six miles
and three quarters. By the stream it is a little over ten. It has an
average width of some forty-five feet and furnishes two small water-
powers of seven and nine feet fall, respectively, and in its entire
course makes a descent of one hundred and eight feet.

Mill Brook. This stream receives the overflow of Turtle pond and,
after pursuing a westerly and southwesterly course for some two
miles and a quarter, enters the Merrimack near East Concord village.
In this distance it falls nearly one hundred feet. While its volume
is not large, it affords three small mill powers, two of which were
improved as early as 1729, the first utilized in Concord.

H<«-ketfs Brook. Tins is a small stream, supplied by the overflow
of Hot Hole and Snow's ponds. From the former to the river, which
it enters just above Sewall's falls, it makes a descent of two hundred
and thirty-three feet.

Bow and Wood's Brooks. These, starting in a single stream from
the east side of Little pond, take separate courses at the junction of
the Little pond and Woolson roads. The first pursues a southeast-
erly course for about four miles through the woods, the county jail
lot, the state hospital farm and other estates, to Turkey river, in
Bow. The latter passes easterly through the woods, Blossom Hill

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 11

cemetery and. other lands for a distance of about a mile and a half, to
Horse Shoe pond. Some fifty years ago it furnished power to a small
sawmill located a few rods east of the main entrance to Blossom Hill
cemetery. Of late years the removal of the forest has restricted its
flow to a portion only of the year.

In addition to these streams there are others in different parts of
the city, varying in length from one to three miles each, of which the
limits of this chapter allow no extended mention. Of this number
are Wattanummon's brook, which connects Horse Shoe pond with the
Merrimack ; Ash brook, which rises at the foot of Beech hill and
joins Turkey river near St. Paul's School ; Beaver Meadow brook,
which drains the bog at West Concord ; Willow Hollow brook, which
enters the Merrimack from the west about a mile south of Penacook ;
Burnham's and Bowen brooks, which also discharge their waters into
the Merrimack at East Concord, and others of yet minor importance.

Various causes have operated to the reduction of the several vol-
umes of these streams. They all carry less water than formerly.
Yet the statement is made that, upon the Merrimack and its tributa-
ries, more cotton is spun and woven than upon any other river in the
world ; a fact which accounts for the important towns and cities which
occupy its banks, at intervals, all the way from Lake Winnepesaukee

to the sea.

PONDS.

In depressions among the hills may be found the seven ponds before
mentioned, each of sufficient area to claim a brief mention. Of these
two are in the northeasterly section of the city, one, Snow's pond,
lying between the Mountain and Oak hill ; and Turtle pond, situated
about a mile south of it, between Oak hill and the Broken ground.
The former has an elevation of one hundred and ninety-five feet above
the river, an area of sixty-two acres and a watershed of four hundred
and ninety-two. The latter lies ninety-nine feet above the Merri-
mack, has an area of one hundred and forty-six acres and a water-
shed of fourteen hundred and fifty. ( )n the west side of the river,
in the southwest section of the city, are two ponds, respectively desig-
nated as Turkey and Little Turkey. They lie near to each other in
the depression between Silver, Stickney, and Dimond hills. The first
has an area of two hundred and thirty-nine acres and a watershed of
fifteen hundred and seventy-one. The second has an area of thirty-
five acres and a watershed of five hundred and fifty-five. The former
lies one hundred feet above the river and the latter ninety.

In the depression surrounded by Rattlesnake, Jerry, Pine, and Par-
sonage hills, a little west and north of the centre of the city, lies
Long pond, the largest within its limits, one hundred and seventy-

12 HISTORY OF CONCOED.

nine feet above the river. It has an area of three hundred and thirty-
eight acres and a watershed of nineteen hundred and twenty.

In a small hollow, high on the Rattlesnake range, is found a small
body of water known as Little pond. It covers some five acres and
lies within a watershed of about thirty-five.

Just above the north end of Main street, in a former channel of
the river, may be found a semi-circular body of water known as
Horse Shoe pond. It originally had an area of some sixty acres. By
the growth of aquatic vegetation, successive deposits of river silt in
times of inundation and drainage, its surface has been reduced to about
fifteen acres and its original form changed from that of a horse shoe,
whence has come its name, to that of a semi-circle. It is fed in part
by springs and in part by Wood's brook, which carries to it a portion
of the outflow of Little pond and the drainage of some of the
southeastern slopes of Rattlesnake hill. It has an elevation above
the summer surface of the Merrimack of about three feet.

All of these ponds, with the exception of Long pond, are wholly
or partially surrounded by low, wet, and level meadows, composed
largely of decayed vegetable matter, the accumulation of unknown
periods, which have encroached upon their original areas. Of this
process Horse Shoe pond furnishes a marked example.

To the ponds already mentioned might be added a small one at
Fort Eddy, formed by the Merrimack, in 1828, when it cut for itself
a new channel ; and another at Sugar Ball, produced in the same way,
three years later.

In addition to these are several artificial ponds, the largest of which
are the Asylum pond, made in 1818 by the damming of Bow brook,
which has an area of about six acres ; the semi-circular pond near
Sewall's Falls, made by the Northern Railroad in 1846 by a transfer
of the river to a new channel cut for it across the base of Goodwin's
point; and the pond on the west side of Sewall's island, formed at the
same time by this railroad, which closed the west channel of the river
and forced its whole volume into that on the east side of the island.

FRESHETS.

The Merrimack has ever been subject to occasional overflows,
resulting from heavy rains or melting snows upon its watershed and
those of its tributaries. These have varied in height from a few feet
up to a score or more, and inundated more or less of its interval. In
some instances the interval has been entirely submerged.

Of these freshets we possess but imperfect records. Tradition
says that one of the highest occurred about 1781 and also that, in
1799, the timber of the house now occupied by Dr. William G.

PHYSICAL FEATUKES. 13

Carter (No. 244) at the north end of Main street was floated to its
destination on the waters of a freshet.

Benjamin Kimball, who lived for many years near the east bank of
the river at Sugar Ball, and there kept a ferry, makes mention in his
diary of a winter freshet in January, 1772, which broke up the ice in
the river and strewed it far and wide over the interval. He also
records the occurrence of two other ice freshets ; one on the 5th of
April, 1819, and the other on the 10th and 11th of February, 1821 ;
the first of which swept away Federal bridge and the second a part
of it.

Of the first of these, the New Hampshire Patriot and State Gazette
in its issue of April 13, 1819, remarks : " The heavy rain of Sunday
night last week (April 4) producing a sudden breaking up of the ice
in Merrimack river, the northerly bridge in this town and the turn-
pike bridge at Isle Hooksett was rendered impassible by carrying
away three piers in the former and one pier in the latter. Prepara-
tions had been made for the erection of a new bridge in this town, in
the anticipation that the old one would be unfit for use after the
present season ; so that the inconvenience, though great, will be only
temporary."

Of the latter the same paper says, on the 16th of February, 1824 :

" On Thursday last a flood, the most tremendous ever known in
this part of the country, took place. The extreme cold of the pre-
ceding week was followed on Tuesday and Wednesday by southerly
winds, 'which increased to a gale on the evening and night of that
day, during the greater part of which rain descended in torrents.
The solid coat of ice which covered the ground, while melting it
added to the quantity of water, prevented the earth from receiving
it, and the whole rushed toward and filled the smaller streams,
pushing thence into the river ; in a few hours the thick ice giving
away, swept bridges and everything else in the way into the mass of
undistinguished ruin. . . . The cakes of ice, some of which are
more than two feet in thickness, lie pile on pile on the interval
ground in this vicinity. . . . The following is the best informa-
tion of damage we have been able to gather: . . . Concord
lower bridge, two stone piers and a part of the body of the bridge
carried off". Concord upper bridge (new), one wooden pier and about
two thirds of the body carried away."

Mr. Kimball further states that, in 1820, during the 30th of
August freshet, the river rose twenty feet above low-water mark,
and that, upon its subsidence, three days later, forty-seven men were
engaged in digging potatoes at Sugar Ball that they might prevent
the loss of them by decay.

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Dr. William Prescott says (Bouton's Hist. Concord, p. 773) that
the April freshet of 1850 submerged the whole interval; while
twenty years later Mayor John Kimball remarks in his address to
the City Council that the ice freshet of 1872 "did serious injury to
four of the seven bridges across the Merrimack and Contoocook
rivers."

Twice, certainly, within the last fifty years has high water washed
away so much of the road-bed of the Concord & Montreal Railroad,
between the Concord station and its East Concord bridge, as to
render it impassable for nearly a week in each instance.

In a communication to the Concord Daily Monitor, January 29,
1894, H. N. Robinson of Pittsfield says : " I remember a Mr.
Moulton, who lived near us, saying that he rowed his boat into
several houses in East Concord, and in one he had run the nose of
his boat into the brick oven. I can remember the ice piled high on
the Free bridge road, between the bridge and the hill to the east,
some four feet deep ; left there by a mid-winter freshet. The last of
these high freshets which I recall was in October, 1868, when the
railroad between Concord and East Concord was submerged."

The recent freshet of 1895 covered the iron of the Northern
Railroad at Penacook street to a depth of from three to four inches,
and the water about the Rolfe and Rumford Asylum rose to within
eighteen inches of the first floor of the institution. This freshet, the
highest within the remembrance of persons now living, covered the
entire interval in the central part of the city with the exception of
some ten square rods of the summit of Wattanummon's hill. The
water of the freshet of 1896 rose nearly as high and covered most of
the river's flood plain.

ELEVATIONS

Dates. Elevations in feet above datum line

1851 . . ... 18.99

1859

m t

17.98

1862, April 22

. «

19.64

1865, March

. ,

18.93

1869, April 22

. 4

18.22

1869, Oct. 5

20.18

1870, April 20

19.90

1873, Oct. 22

, .

16.68

1874, Jan. 9

, ,

16.78

1878, Dec. 12

. ,

20.09

1886, Jan. 6

, .

16.60

1895, April 17

21.65

1896, March 2

21.53

1897, July 15

, .

17.4S

1900, April 20

•

16.12

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 15

The foregoing list of the flood elevations above the city's datum
line (low-water mark) at the Concord bridge, since 1851, a period of
forty-nine years, has been kindly furnished by Frank A. Merrill,
assistant chief engineer of the Boston & Maine Railroad.

To this may be added, for facility of consultation, the additional
partial list of freshets which, with two exceptions, occurred previous
to 1851.

1772. A great flood.

1784. Tradition reports a very high freshet this year.

1799. A freshet upon whose waters the timber of Dr. W. (J.
Carter's house was floated to its destination.

1818. A freshet which carried off Federal bridge.

1820, Oct. 17. Great inundation of the interval.

1821. Federal bridge partially carried away.

1826, 1828, and 1831. Very high freshets, causing important
changes of river channel.

1811, Feb. 8. Federal bridge and Free bridge both badly
damaged.

1850, May 1 and (3. Federal bridge injured and embankments of
B., C. & M. Railroad washed away.

1865. Sewall's Falls, Federal, Free, and Concord bridges dam-
aged by freshet.

1868, October. B., C. & M. Railroad embankment between Con-
cord and East Concord submerged.

While the above list does not contain a record of all the Merri-
mack river freshets occurring at Concord during those forty-nine
years, it gives the several elevations above the city's datum line of
fifteen of the more notable ones, the highest having been twenty-one
and sixty-five one hundredths feet, while the lowest was sixteen and
twelve one hundredths, and the average eighteen and seventy-two one
hundredths.

These inundations are usually attended with results both good
and evil. They temporarily obstruct travel, wash away valuable
land in some places, and in others bury it beneath sheets of barren
sand. Occasionally, division fences, farm animals, and growing-
crops are injured or destroyed. At the same time they elevate the
surfaces of low grounds, leave upon the lands submerged deposits of
silt of more or less value, and, if their advent be in spring, they
increase materially the coming grass crop.

Some thirty years ago, serious complaint was made by some of the
farmers upon the interval above Concord, of the withholding in reser-
voirs of considerable portions of the spring waters which had before
contributed to the inundation of their fields, which was done for the

16 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

benefit of the manufacturing companies at Manchester and lower
points along the river's course. In their view, they were deprived of
a natural benefit attaching to their land and had received no compen-
sation for it. The inequality of the parties interested prevented any
reference of the grievance alleged to the legislature or to the courts and
its importance has never been determined.

It is, however, an undoubted fact that much value attaches to grass
lands from a thorough wetting of their soil in early spring, which
renders them moist for a long period thereafter. To such the Merri-
mack inundations are of much benefit, making them, when properly
drained, perennially productive of fair crops of second-class hay with-
out fertilization.

Regarding the value of the sedimentary deposits left upon these
lands by freshets, various opinions are held, based largely upon loose
observations of different persons. That they vary more or less goes
without saying. How much of the benefit received results from
water and how much from silt can be settled only by the most careful
examination by competent persons of particular cases. Such are yet
to be made.

An analysis of three specimens of river silt collected upon Horse
Shoe island in 1896, made at the New Hampshire Experiment Station,
in Durham, indicates that, at this locality, their fertilizing value is
not great.

It is to be regretted that the records of the exact times, heights,
and characteristics of the Merrimack river freshets are so imperfect ;
a fact due in part, doubtless, to a general lack of appreciation of their
importance and the want of some established scale by which their
varying elevations may be determined, similar to the Nilometers of
Egypt, used to mark the varying heights of the Nile. But the
records which we have suffice to show that our ordinary freshets attain
elevations of from five to ten feet above the river's low-water mark,
and that the higher ones rise to eighteen and twenty. At these
latter heights the interval in the central part of the city is nearly all
submerged.

The height of the water in the time of a freshet is not the same
over all submerged localities. It varies to the amount of one or two
feet and in some instances even more. When the river overflows its
southern bank at the upper end of Wattanummon's field, and is swept
onward by its current and a northwest wind, which generally prevails
at such a time, forcing the water into the triangle formed by the em-
bankments of the Northern and of the Boston, Concord & Montreal
railroads, it is found to be considerably higher on the west than on
the east side of the latter road. It was to the action of these forces

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 17

that the carrying out the section of its embankment, before men-
tioned, was due. Various causes produce similar but lesser irregu-
larities of surface at other places. The following are records of the
heights of water in the Merrimack river during the flood of April 17,
1895, furnished by Mr. Merrill:

At East Concord passenger station . 24.12

At new bridge near N. E. Granite Co.'s sheds, west side of track 24.22

At new bridge near N. E. Granite Co.'s sheds, east side of track 22.59

Opposite Concord passenger station ..... 21.65

600 feet south of gas house bridge ..... 21.32

2,900 feet south of gas house bridge ..... 18.79

At Bow Junction ........ 16.32

The above elevations are all above the citv datum, low water at the
lower bridge, by Governor Weston's survey.

FORESTS.

When the first settlers came to Concord they found its territory
covered by primeval forest, with the exception of its water surfaces
and small portions of its interval, which the Indians had cleared and
on which their squaws had raised small crops of corn, beans, and
pumpkins. Limited sections also produced the indigenous grasses,
still found on the low, sandy soils near the river, which the plow but
rarely, if ever, reaches, called by the earlier generations " old interval
grasses," and by the botanists various species of " Andropogon."

Besides shrubs of little worth, the Concord forests still contain
thirty-three different species of native trees of commercial value. In
them may be found :

The Basswood (Tilia Americana).

Four species of Maple — The Sugar or Rock Maple (Acer saccha-
rium), the Red Maple (Acer rubrum), the White Maple (Acer dasy-
carpuni), and the Striped Maple (Acer Pennsylvanicwm).

The Black Cherry (Prunus Serotina).

The Sassafras (Sassafras officinale).

Two species of Elm — The American Elm (Ulmus Americana) and
the Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva).

The Oilnut or Butternut (Juglans cineria).

The Walnut (Gary a alba).

Three species of Oak — The White Oak (Quercus alba), the Yel-
low or Black Oak (Quercus tinctoria), and the Red Oak (Quercus
rubra).

Two species of Ash — The White Ash (Fraxinus Americana) and
the Brown Ash (Fraxinus samibucifolia).

The Beech (Fagus ferruginea).

The Chestnut (Castanea vulgaris).
3

18 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

The Lever Wood (Ostrya Virginica).

Four species of Birch — The Black Birch (Betula lento), the Yel-
low Birch (Betula lutea), the White Birch (Betula papyrifera), and
the Grey Birch (Betula alba).

The Black Willow (Salyx nigra).

The American Aspen (Populus tremuloides).

Three species of Pine — The White Pine (Pinus strobus), the Pitch
Pine (Pinus rigida), and the Red Pine (Pinus resinosa).

The Black Spruce (Pieea nigra).

The Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea).

The Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis).

The Hackmatack (Larix Americana).

In early days grand aboriginal pines of great size were cut for
masts and drawn to the river's bank to be thence floated to the ship-
yards near its mouth. One hundred oxen, gathered from a large
neighborhood, were sometimes employed to move such from the
forest. " Masting," as it was termed, was a rough, laborious, and
somewhat hazardous business. A large mast rolled into the river
represented what was then a considerable amount of money. If it
encountered disaster on the way to its destination, a serious loss
befell its owner. The late Simeon Abbott once remarked that on
one occasion a prominent mast master 1 of Concord followed on horse
back along the river's bank a valuable mast stick, which he was
transporting to its destination, as far as Amoskeag Falls. Here it
floated athwart the current, struck a rock in mid-channel and was
broken in two parts. This ruin of the mast was the ruin of its
owner. He relied upon the money which he expected to receive for
it for the payment of debts he had no other means of discharging.
Disheartened, he turned from the river and was never seen again.

" The next famous master was Capt. Reuben Kimball. The man-
ner in which he carried on the business was as follows : Taking a
strong team in the winter, of twenty yoke of oxen or more, with
sleds and an adequate number of men, he went into the woods and
camped. His men were divided into sections for particular parts of
the work, called swampers, teamsters, choppers, peelers, and tailsmen.
The swampers cleared the way ; choppers cut down the trees ; peel-
ers peeled off the bark ; teamsters drove the oxen ; and two tailsmen
walked beside the hind team, and in case at any time the tongue of
the sled, in passing a hollow place, run so high as to lift the hind
oxen up by the neck, then the tailsmen seized the tails of the oxen

1 The first mast-master of whom we have particular knowledge was Lieut. John Webster.
. . . Timothy Walker remembers that Lieutenant Webster cut a mast in Northfiehl which
measured thirty-eight inches in diameter at sixty feet from the butt, and took one hundred
and four oxen, or fifty-two teams, to draw it.

PHYSICAL FEATUKES. 19

and drew them outward, so that in coming down the tongue of the
sled would not strike them." — Bouton's History of Concord, pp.
537, 538.

The Rev. Mr. Walker, the town minister, in his diary for 1764,
says:

" Jan. 17. At night Prince, with one yoke of oxen, went into y e
mast camp.

" Jan. 18. Mr. Webster hauled his great mast at night.

" Jan. 20. Prince returned from masting."

In early days, when wood was consumed in large quantities and
forest clearings were in progress, collections of ashes were made and
the manufacture of potash was prosecuted to some extent.

Judge Timothy Walker had a potashery in the rear of his garden,
the well of which remains in good condition to this day. In his
diary for 1766 he remarks:

" February 10. John Colby brot a L. of ashes from C* Page's.
" June 23. J u Colby went to Haverhill with a load of Potash."

There was but little other than the small local demand for lumber
previous to the construction of the canals, at the various falls of the
Merrimack. Consequently masts and potash were, until then, the
only forest products which could be conveyed to a market. Upon
the opening of these the transportation of lumber was made possible
and that industry was greatly promoted. They came too late, how-
ever, for the manufacture here of rosin, spirits of turpentine, pipe
staves, and other wood products, once extensively pursued on and
near the sea-coast. The want of practicable transportation facilities
had before prevented the establishment of these industries so far dis-
tant from a market.

Fifty years ago there might have been found in Concord a consid-
erable number of very ancient white pines of colossal dimensions and
great ages. Some of them contained from two to three thousand
feet of lumber, board measure. They were nearly or quite coeval
with the settlement of New Hampshire by the English. Now and
then one might be found whose preservation was due, perhaps, to
having once borne the mark of the broad arrow placed upon it by the
Surveyor of the King's Woods, when New Hampshire was a British
province, to indicate its reservation as a mast tree for the royal navy.

These giants of the woods, commonly called " old growth pines,"
to designate them from younger trees of the same species, which, far
from small, had diameters of from two to three feet, a foot above the
ground, although long past their prime a half century ago, were still

20 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

stalwart in their great age. Forest Nestors, erect, of commanding
stature, stately, grand and majestic, they towered above all their fel-
lows, bearing green coronals which daily received the sun's earliest
greetings, and reflected his latest rays as he descended below the
horizon of the west.

In all probability, not one of those old patriarchs of the woods now
survives within the limits of Concord. Like the Indian, of whom
they were companions in youth, they have passed in the great pro-
gression of the world's movements, and the places which once knew
them will know them no more.

The wood and timber of Concord forests grows less rapidly than
is generally supposed. The writer found some years ago, by count-
ing the rings and measuring the butts of forty white-pine logs, aver-
aging about fifty feet in length, taken from various localities, that their
average diameter was twenty-two and eighty-two one hundredths
(22.82) inches, their average age eighty-six and seventy-six one hun-
dredths (86.7(3) years, and their average contents three hundred and
sixty-three (3(33) feet, showing an average growth of four and two
tenths (4.2) feet a year, board measure.

A similar examination of twenty chestnut logs, averaging thirty
feet in length, showed their average diameter to be twenty-one and
four tenths (21.4) inches, their average age seventy-four (74) years,
and their average contents two hundred and ninety-six (296) feet,
having increased at an average rate of four (4) feet a year.

Twenty red-oak logs of an average length of thirty feet, and an
average diameter of eighteen and two tenths (18.2) inches, had an
average age of seventy and one tenth (70.1) years, and contained on
an average two hundred and fifty-three feet, having grown at the
rate of three and six tenths (3.6) feet each year.

Five hemlock logs, averaging thirty-five feet in length and seven-
teen and two tenths (17.2) inches in diameter, had an average age
of seventy-seven (77) years, and an average measurement of two
hundred and seventy-one (271) feet, having increased at the rate of
three and a half (3 1-2) feet a year.

MINERAL RESOURCES.

The mineral resources of Concord have been iron, clay, potash, and
granite.

Iron. In a section of the city known as the Iron Works, small
quantities of iron were manufactured many years ago, and the same
was also done at Forge pond at West Concord. Where the ore was
generally obtained does not appear. Some of it, however, was taken
from a spot near the Sheep Davis road on the Plain. It has also been

PHYSICAL FEATUKES. 21

found at the foot of Oak bill, near Turtle pond. This industry, never
of great importance, has been described in another chapter.

Clay. The best of clay is found in several localities. It underlies
the superincumbent formation at depths so inconsiderable as to render
it easily accessible. Beds of it have been utilized near Mill brook, in
East Concord, on Turnpike street near the Margaret Pillsbury hos-
pital, and farther south, near the Bow line, upon the State Hospital
farm, near the foot of Dimond's hill, and elsewhere.

Bricks were made in Concord quite soon after its settlement. They
were somewhat smaller than those now used, being thinner, with one
side a little thicker than the other, and not quite so hard. Some,
made as early as 1734, and perhaps before, are still doing good service
to-day. Though not an extensive industry, the manufacture of bricks
has always been an important one, and has partially met the local
demand.

Fifty years ago, considerable quantities of brown pottery were man-
ufactured in the vicinity of St. Paul's School and disposed of in Con-
cord and neighboring towns. Twenty years ago flower pots, jugs,
vases, etc., of attractive forms were produced, evincing not only good
taste but skill and fidelity on the part of the manufacturers.

Granite. The granite industry dates from the early part of the
last century. In its early days the undressed stock was obtained
from surface boulders. These yielded large quantities of choice
stone, one to the amount of eleven thousand cubic feet. When this
source of supply failed, ledges were uncovered and regular quarrying
was commenced. Top sheets, more or less stained, were originally
made use of and were split into the required forms by steel wedges
driven into narrow holes made by flat drills. The round drill was
in but little, if any, use seventy years ago. Gunpowder was not
much used until deep quarrying began.

The erection of the walls of the state prison in 1812 and those of
the state house in 1816-1819, brought Concord granite into notice
and created a demand for it. It was quarried in considerable quan-
tities for building purposes and prepared for use by the convicts of
the state prison, whence it was shipped by the Boston & Concord
Boating Company to Boston, and thence to New York, Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and New Orleans.

For some years the dressing of stone was the chief employment of
the state prisoners. When, about 1840, the convict labor was trans-
ferred to other industries the stone business was assumed by private
parties. Prominent among these was Luther Roby, who for many
years pursued it extensively. Gass & Johnson, Benjamin Speed, and
Alexander Nichols also followed it.

22 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

These supplied the local demand and sent stone, both dressed and
in the rough, to other places. The United States post-office at Ports-
mouth and the Horticultural and Merchants bank buildings in Boston
afford fair specimens of the stone sent from the Concord quarries some
thirty to forty years ago. Inasmuch as the history of this industry is ably
described elsewhere, it is unnecessary to say more of it here than that
the greatest mineral resource of Concord is to be found in the granite
ledges which form so large a part of Rattlesnake hill, exhaustless, and
thus far but partially developed.

Potash. Before the Revolution and for many years after, the man-
ufacture of potash, elsewhere mentioned, was pursued to some extent
in Concord. In the clearing of land for farming purposes, large quan-
tities of ashes were produced. This fact led to the establishment of
the business which continued to be prosecuted until the scarcity of
the raw material rendered it unprofitable.

By the reduction of the alkali of this waste product to the con-
centrated form of potash, its transportation to a market became prac-
ticable. Mr. Richard Herbert carried on this business down to about
1825. Sixty years before that time, Judge Timothy Walker, as before
remarked, had a potash manufactory on his premises, which was occu-
pied for a considerable period. Its well, like that of the patriarch
Jacob, in the Valley of Shechem, is in good preservation at this day.

ARTESIAN WELL.

Concord has but one artesian well. This is located about one hun-
dred and fifty feet south of School street and midway between Main
and State streets.

In 1897 and 1898, John H. Toof, wishing to obtain superior water
for his laundry, sank such a well to the depth of thirteen hundred
and twenty-five feet. The bed rock was struck at forty-nine feet
below the ground's surface, and thence the drilling proceeded for the
remaining distance of twelve hundred and seventy-six feet, through
a coarse granite formation which varied considerably from time to
time in the mixture of its elements. At one point a stratum of pure
quartz was encountered fifteen feet thick, which tested severely the
temper of the drills and slackened the progress of the work.

Water was reached in small quantity at fifteen feet below the rock's
surface, and in larger measure later at the depth of nine hundred and
thirty-five feet.

This well has a diameter of six inches and yields each day between
five and six thousand gallons of pure water by a pumping of ten
hours. This is raised from a point three hundred and twenty-five
feet below the ground's surface and has a uniform temperature of

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 23

seventy-one degrees Fahrenheit. Thus far, experience has indicated
that this amount marks the well's capacity, which is unaffected by
atmospheric conditions of moisture or temperature.

The quality of the water is of perfect clearness, is soft, and answers
admirably the purpose for which it was sought.

The sinking of this well has demonstrated the fact that if at some
future time the water from Long pond shall fail, from pollution,
insufficiency, or other cause, Concord's citizens have in reserve an
inexhaustible supply of pure water to which they may freely resort.

LOCALITIES.

Concord, like other New England towns, contains various localities
which were better known in former times than now. While these
are of some interest to the general reader, they are of much impor-
tance to a careful student of this city's history. A part of the fol-
lowing descriptions of these has been taken from Dr. Bouton's His-
tory of Concord, pages 4 to 7. The localities on the west side of
Merrimack river are as follows :

" 1. Horse-Hill is the name of the territory included in School
District No. 1, lying northerly of Contoocook River; — so called from
the practice, in early times of the settlement, of turning young horses
and cattle there to pasture, in spring and summer. Oliver Hoit was
the first settler there, in 1772.

" 2. 3Iast Yard on the Contoocook River, about a mile and a half
from Horse Hill bridge ; so called from the heavy timber that used to
be hauled thither from adjacent forests and rolled into the river, to
be floated thence into the Merrimack and down to the Atlantic
Ocean. Opposite Mast Yard, about a mile southerly, is Broad Cove,
in School District No. 4.

" 3. Dagody or Bagodon Hill and Brook, on or near the northerly
boundary line between Concord and Boscawen ; so called from a
man named Dagodon, who formerly resided there. The brook is
famous for trout fishing. Lieut. Marshall Baker, when a young man,
on a fishing excursion to this brook, in his haste to catch a large
mess, took off his pantaloons, tied a string around the bottom of the
legs, buttoning the waistband and opening them with sticks, set them
for a fish-pot at the mouth of a little dam which he threw up. Then,
driving the fish down the stream, he caught in a short time about
ninety fine trout, one weighing over three pounds.

" 4. Within the Horse Hill territory, partly in Boscawen, is a Lit-
tle Pond, sometimes called Catamount, abounding more with snakes
and turtles than with fishes.

" 5. The Borough, School District No. 2, settled originally by the

24 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Elliots ; now the residence of old Mrs. Lydia Elliot, at the age of
102 years. Among the ancient men distinguished in this locality in
former times and known by their honorary titles were ' Governor
Elliot,' ' Lawyer Elliot,' and ' Judge Baker,' grandfather of his Excel-
lency, Nathaniel B. Baker.

" 6. Hoyfs Brook, which crosses the road to Boscawen, about one
mile south of Fisherville.

" 7. Beaver Meadow Brook, about a mile south of Hoyt's Brook.
Near this is Beaver Meadow bog road to Horse Hill.

" 8. Sand Banks, about a half mile easterly from Hoyt's brook,
where logs and timber were rolled into the Merrimack River. Capt.
Joseph Pratt, of Oxford, with a two horse sleigh, drove off this bank
one night by accident, and, though precipitated to the bottom,
escaped without material injury.

" 9. Horsing-Downs was the name given to a long, narrow neck of
land lying at the foot of Sand Banks on the east side, as the river
formerly ran, but since cut off by turning the river for the track of
the Northern Railroad, better known now as G-oodivins Point.

" 10. Dusthis Island, at the mouth of Contoocook River, — the
scene of the famous exploit of Mrs. Hannah Dustin, who killed and
scalped her Indian captors.

"11. SewalVs Island and Falls, so called from Judge Samuel Sew-
all, of Massachusetts, who formerly owned the premises.

"12. Rattlesnake Brook, running from Long Pond through West
Village.

" 13. Rattlesnake Hill, so called on account of the snakes of this
species that formerly had their dens here, well known as Granite
Hill, about two miles northwesterly from the Main Village.

" 14. Parsonage Hill, so called from the eighty acre lot laid off to
the parsonage right, west of Isaac Farnum's.

" 15. Long Pond. (See Ponds.)

" 16. Pine Hill, belonging to the farms of Nathan K. and Jeremiah,
S. Abbot, west of Long Pond, is estimated to be the highest point of
land in Concord.

" 17. South and westerly of Long Pond is a range of hills, of
which the highest is ' Jerry 's Hill,'' so called from Jerry, or Jeremiah,
Bradley, who formerly owned the land. From the summit of this
hill a grand and picturesque view is had far to the north and east,
taking in the Franconia Mountains, White Hills, Red Hill, and on
the southwest the grand Monadnock. North of Jerry's is a hill hav-
ing a large and curious cave on the southwest side of it.

" 18. Little Pond, or District No. 6, is so called from a small pond,
situated northeast from Nathan Ballard's. This neighborhood was

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 25

settled about 1789, by Nathan Ballard, Nathan and Henry Chandler,
and Eben Fisk on farms bought of the estate of Col. Paul Rolfe.

" 19. Beech Hill, on the westerly line between Concord and Hop-
kinton, so called from the abundant beech wood there found.

" 20. DimonoVs Hill, about four miles westerly of the Main Vil-
lage, on Hopkinton road, so called from Ezekiel Dimond, a large
landowner, who formerly resided on or near the place where Joseph
S. Abbot now lives. In 1828 Mr. Nathan Call moved a two story
dwelling house, thirty by forty feet, on wheels, with forty yoke of
oxen, from Hopkinton to Concord. 1 In descending this hill, then
much steeper than at the present time, he put three yoke of oxen
before and the remainder behind, to hold back. It took four days
to move the house. The distance was about five miles.

" 21. Ash Brook, running at the foot of Dimond's Hill, through
the farm of Atkinson Webster, into Little Turkey Pond.

" 22. Fusli Market, 11 on the Hopkinton road, three miles from Main
Street, origin of name not known, long distinguished for excellent
brick and earthenware there manufactured.

" 23. Powell's Hook, at the ravine near the upper mills in Mill-
ville, so called from one Powell, a drummer, who lived near there.

" 24. Millville, a name recently given to the settlement where
Moses Shute resides, including the house and land of Dr. George C.
Shattuck, of Boston, which house was the first of brick in Concord
and was built by Jacob Carter, father of Jacob Carter, now post-
master. This house and farm were recently given by Dr. Shattuck
for the purpose of a school, to be called ' St. Paul's School.'

" 25. RunnelVs Mills were situated on the stream from Great Tur-
key to Little Turkey Pond on the road to Stickney's Hill. For-
merly well known, these mills have fallen into entire decay. Stickney's
Hill, about a mile southwest of Runnell's Mills, so called from first
settlers of the name.

" 26. Bog Road, running from Concord through the bogs of Tur-
key Pond to James Hall's, thence to Dumbarton. Before reaching
Mr. Hall's this road crosses Tury brook and Peter's or Behis brook,
the latter so. called from former owners of land.

" 27. Rum Hill, including the high land northwesterly of road to
Hopkinton, owned by Benjamin Gale and others, about a mile and a
half from the State House, so called from a drunken carousal and
fight which took place there in early times, at a coal pit.

" 28. Eleven Lots, extending, according to the first survey, from

1 This house now stands on the east side of State street, the second house south of Pleas-
ant street.

2 Extends along the old Hopkinton road from Ash brook to Turkey river, at Powell's
Hook.

26 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

the residence of the late Countess of Rumford to near the old Bow
line.

" 29. The Bend (that is in Merrimack River) near the southern
boundary line and taking in a small section of Bow. On the bank
at this bend is a beautiful view, north, of the Main Village.

" 30. Iron Works, southwest part of the town, including School
District No. 18. In the Revolutionary War the 'Iron Works' were
owned by Daniel Carter, Daniel Gale, and Dr. Philip Carrigain. A
forge was built in the lot easterly of the bridge which now crosses
Turkey River, where iron was wrought from native ore.

" 31. Frog Ponds, on the interval east of the residence of the late
Gov. Hill, who owned the premises and made various experiments to
improve them. Name derived from the ' serenades ' of their princi-
pal inhabitants.

"32. Hale's Point, the extreme point of land on 'Ferry Road,' by
Richard Herbert's, named from Joseph Hale, who in early times
owned the land. From the ' Point ' across the river was formerly a
ferry, extensively known as ' Kimball's Ferry.'' Hale's Point was
cut off by a great freshet about 1831, and the ferry is discontinued
since the opening of the Free Bridge road.

"33. Fort Eddy, about half a mile north of Hale's Point, on land
owned by Richard Bradley, opposite Sugar Ball. According to tra-
dition this was the location of an old Indian fort.

" 34. The Fan. A tract of land bordering the river, north of
Fort Eddy, valuable for natural mowing and deriving its name from
a fancied resemblance in shape to a lady's fan. Chiefly owned by
the late Abiel Walker. 1

" 35. Wattanummon s Brook, the principal feeder and outlet of
Horse Shoe Pond on the east, crossed by a bridge and so called from
the name of an Indian chief who owned and cultivated the land
adjacent. There is an outlet from both ends of the Pond.

"37. Wood's Brook, the little stream from ' Little Pond,' crossing
the Boscawen road north of Richard Bradley's, and formerly turning
the ' dry saw mill ' which was built there, deriving its name from
David Wood, original proprietor.

" 38. Paradise, about forty rods northerly from Wood's Brook,
so named from a beautiful grove and the scenery around it, includ-
ing a charming view of the interval and meandering of the river on
the east. It was owned by Capt. E. S. Towle. The grove being
recently cleared away, it may be called ' Paradise lost.'

" 39. Blossom Hill, a pleasant eminence covered with a fine
growth, opposite ' Paradise.'

1 Mr. Walker was hardly " chief " owner. The larger part was owned by Richard Brad-
ley and Samuel Coffin.— Editor.

PHYSICAL FEATTJEES. 27

" 40. The Gfulf, or Steep Hill Bridge, on the main road to Bos-
cawen, about twenty rods south of the railroad crossing, near Benja-
min Farnum's. East of this Gulf is Far-Hum's Eddy, so called from
a current or whirl in the river.

"41. West Brook, formerly 'Meeting-house Brook,' rising in swamp
land west of the State Prison, crossing Main Street near the house of
the late John West, senior, whence the name. The space between this
brook and ' Tan-yard Brook ' was neutral ground between the north
and south end boys.

" 42. Clay Pits, and tan yard brook (which runs under the road),
in the valley of Mr. Ivory Hall's house. The late Capt. Richard
Ayer carried on an extensive tannery on the west side of the road ;
and clay of good quality was formerly dug here. Opposite the tan-
yard stood the old hay scales, and here was ' the great elm tree,'
marked on the plan of Main Street.

" 43. Bow Brook, partly flows from Little pond, runs by the new
Jail and the Insane Asylum, and empties into Turkey river.

" 44. Free Bridge and Free Bridge Road, across the Merrimack
and interval, nearly opposite Center Street. This road was first
opened and bridge built in 1839."

" Localities on the east side of the River, beginning on the north-
ern line at Canterbury.

" 1. Burnliam's Brook, running from Canterbury by Chandler
Choate's to Merrimack river, opposite the eastern point of Rolfe's
interval.

" 2. SacJcetfs Brook, so called from a man of that name who once
leaped across it, and then turning around, said to himself — ' I '11 bet
a mug of flip you can't do that again, Hackett.' Then attempting
to leap it again, as his feet struck the opposite bank, he fell back-
wards into the brook. The brook has its principal source in 'Hot
Hole pond,' easterly on the Loudon line ; empties into the Merri-
mack just north of Sewall's Falls bridge. On this stream is situated
Lovejoy's Mills, so called, and also a saw-mill near its mouth.

" 3. Snow's Pond. (See Ponds.) Oak Hill is a high eminence
east of Snow's pond, or northerly of Turtle pond. (See pages 543,
544.)

" 4. Hot Hole Pond. (See Ponds.)

"5. Snaptoivn, the section comprising School District No. 14, in
the northeasterly part of the town, near Loudon line. The origin of
the name is uncertain. One tradition is, that it is derived from a
man by the name of Blanchard, who had a habit of snapping his eyes,
or winking quick : on which a woman remarked, that ' she should
think the children in the neighborhood would snap.' Another tradi-

28 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

tion is that an early settler in the locality, thinking himself crowded
by others who moved in within a half mile of him, was cross or
snappish.

" 6. The Mountain, comprising School District No. 21, and extend-
ing from the dwelling house of Jacob Hoit to the residence of Abra-
ham Bean and John L. Tallant.

"7. Bowens Brook, crossing the road to the Mountain in the val-
ley near Meshech Lang's ; origin of name not ascertained.

" 8. Turtletown, comprising School District No. 15, derives its name
from the large pond in that vicinity, which abounds with turtles.
(See Ponds, page 543.)

" 9. Apple Town, southerly of Turtle pond, supposed to derive its
name from the abundance and excellence of apples there raised.

" 10. Leather Lane, the section from the fork of the road to Apple-
town to the old burying ground in the East Village.

"11. The Fort, — including the East Village — deriving its name
from the ' Irish Fort,' or from the garrison of Capt. Ebenezer East-
man, which stood directly west of the residence of Israel W. Kelley,
Esq.

"12. Squaw Lot, westerly of Federal Bridge. (See Indian His-
tory.)

" 13. Mill Brook, the outlet of Turtle pond, affording a tine water
power in the East Village, on which the first saw and grist mill were
built, in Concord, 1729.

" 14. Death's Hill, on the Portsmouth turnpike, near the school
house on ' Dark Plain,' a short, steep ascent, which the road now
runs around on the south and east side, derived its name from the
circumstance that a traveller, with a loaded team from Portsmouth,
was killed in going over it by a hogshead of molasses rolling from his
wagon.

" 15. /Sugar Ball, the first prominent sand bluff northerly of Kim-
ball's Ferry, or Samuel Clifford's residence, and opposite Fort Eddy.
On this, according to invariable tradition, stood the old Penacook
fort.

" 1(3. Mount Pleasant, a high and steep sand bluff, about eighty
rods northwesterly from Sugar Ball, recently so called from the
extensive and beautiful view it affords of the interval of the Merri-
mack and the Main Village ; of hills of the West parish and scenes
more distant.

"17. Garvin's Falls, formerly the residence of the Garvin family,
including a portion of the ' Southern Bow gore.' In the ancient
records it is known as the Penny Cook Falls, and not, as on the map,
' Soucook Falls.'

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 29

" 18. Head's Mills, on the Soucook river, near the old line of Con-
cord, a little north of the old road to Pembroke, about two miles
from Concord bridge.

" 19. Placer, a favorite place of resort in the summer, at a great
bend in Soucook river."

To the foregoing may be added the following localities not men-
tioned by Dr. Bouton :

1. Pond Hill, the bluff at the north end of Main street, overlook-
ing Horse Shoe pond, the interval, and the distant mountains. It was
formerly a popular place of resort of pedestrians and used as a parade
ground by the military companies of Concord. Here, also, for a time,
was located the town pound. Since its depression by the Concord &
Claremont Railroad, some fifty years ago, and the subsequent erection
thereon of the ice house, it has been- rarely visited except for business
purposes.

2. Wattanummori 's Hill, the slight eminence above the highway at
the crossing of Wattanummon's brook by the Concord & Montreal
Railroad. It is the highest land on the interval of the central part of
the city, and is not known to have ever been submerged by a freshet.

3. Brimstone Hill, the southern termination of the terrace upon
which has been built most of the compact part of the city at the
south end of Main street, at the intersection of Turnpike and Water
streets near the old Butters tavern.

4. Tuckers Ferry, the ferry of Lemuel Tucker, at East Concord,
located, when in use, upon the site of Federal bridge, to which it
gave way.

5. Merrill's Ferry, the ferry of Deacon John Merrill, near the
south end of Main street, about one hundred and fifty rods above
Concord bridge, discontinued upon the erection of that bridge.

6. Bradley s Island, originally a tongue of land on the east side of
the Merrimack, attached to Sugar Ball interval, transferred to the
other side of the stream, in 1831, by a freshet which cut for the river
a new channel across the base of it. Portions of the old channel are
now filled up and it is no longer an island but a peninsula.

7. St. PauVs School, the delightful hamlet two miles west of the
state house, which takes its name from the important school to which
its origin is chiefly due.

8. Rolfe's Eddy, a small bay of still water on the south side of
Contoocook river, near its junction with the Merrimack, where sawed
lumber was formerly held within booms for rafting down the river.

9. Christian Shore, a section of interval at East Concord, half a
mile above Federal bridge, embracing, fifty years ago, the farms of

30 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Samuel B. Locke, John Locke, Samuel B. Larkin, and Henry S.
Thatcher.

10. The Break of Bay, a small hamlet on the Dark Plain, near the
intersection of the old Portsmouth turnpike and the road to Loudon,
some three miles from the state house, — a locality better known and
more frequently visited during the Civil War than before or since.

11. The Broken Ground, a section of hilly land mostly covered
with forest trees, in the northeast part of Concord, lying between
Turtle pond and the Loudon road, — a locality best known to woods-
men and hunters.

12. The Shaker Road, a road leading to Shaker Village, Canterbury,
laid out some fifty years ago, from a point on the old Canterbury
road, near the East Concord Congregational church, past the easterly
side of Snow's pond to the southeasterly part of Canterbury.

13. The Bark Plain, that section of pins plain land which lies
opposite the main settlement of Concord, extending from the inter-
val, on the west, to Soucook river, on the east, and from Turtletown,
on the north, to Pembroke line, on the south.

14. Smoky Hollow, the valley between Pitman and Montgomery
streets, through which Tan Yard brook formerly ran, now largely
filled up and occupied by stores and dwelling-houses.

15. WJiale's Back, a glacial moraine, some twenty to thirty feet
high, composed mostly of coarse gravel and extending along the
westerly part of the compactly settled portion of the city from
Washington to Pleasant streets.

16. Birch Bale, a locality in the southwest part of the city, near
Great Turkey pond, where the late Dr. Robert Hall formerly had
medical springs, whose waters he sold in considerable quantities and
exported to different parts of the United States. Here he erected a
hotel for the accommodation of patients, which was destroyed by fire
in 1885 (July 26), causing a loss of about twenty-five thousand
dollars.

17. Sand Hill, the elevation north of Centre and west of Spring
street, from which cannon salutes were formerly fired, before it was
covered with streets and houses.

18. Glovers Hill, the slope from the interval up to the Dark Plain,
situated some eighty or ninety rods southeasterly of Concord bridge,
at the top of which John Glover once resided.

19. The Silk. Farm, a farm situated in the southwesterly part of
Concord, at the intersection of the road leading to Dunbarton with
that from St. Paul's School to Bow. It was purchased by a com-
pany, organized in 1835, for the manufacture of silk, an enterprise
which was prosecuted for a few years but failed of success.

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 31

20. Over the River. In early times, the section now designated
East Concord was spoken of as " Over the river," and bore that name
until the middle of the last century, when the Boston, Concord &
Montreal Railroad was built.

21. Wattanummon's Field, a section of interval lying along the south-
erly bank of the Merrimack, between Farnum's eddy and Federal
bridge. It takes its name from the Indian, Wattanummon, who claimed
to own it when the first white settlers came to Concord. 1

22. Horse Shoe Island, a section of interval, of about one hundred
acres, once a peninsula nearly encompassed by the Merrimack, con-
verted to an island by a prehistoric change of the river's course.

23. The New Colony, a small hamlet, no longer existing, near the
intersection of Franklin and Jackson streets, which was once occu-
pied by a rough class of people, whose manners and morals had not
risen to the highest standard of excellence.

24. Farnum's Eddy, a sharp turn of Merrimack river into its west-
ern bank, at the lower end of Rattlesnake interval. This was con-
verted into a still pond in 1816, by the construction across its mouth
of the embankment of the Northern Railroad.

25. Crarvins Landing, a place on the east bank of the Merrimack,
at the " Bend/' below the Concord bridge, where lumber was put
into the river to be floated thereon to a market. It took its name
from Patrick Garvin, who lived a mile or more farther down, on the
opposite shore, in Bow.

26. Eivers Mill, a sawmill on Hackett's brook, in East Concord, six
miles from the state house, near the intersection of the roads leading
to Canterbury and the old road to Portsmouth. Much lumber was
once manufactured at this mill, but of late years the great reduction
of the timber supply and the introduction of portable steam sawmills
have greatly reduced its operations.

27. Fisherville, the former name of Penacook, named for Francis
and Freeman Fisher, who introduced cotton manufacturing to this
locality about 1836.

28. The Ivy Field, a considerable section of unoccupied ground
lying west of State and south of Monroe street, near the Rumford
schoolhouse. Fifty years ago it was a place of resort for recreation,
but it is now occupied by streets and houses.

29. Dunklee's Fair Ground, a large tract of open ground, extending
on both sides of Broadway from Downing street to Rollins park.
Here fairs of the New Hampshire Agricultural Society were held in
1856 and 1857. Here, too, some of the New Hampshire troops were
temporarily quartered during the Civil War.

1 See Bouton's Hist, of Concord, pp. 40-42.

32 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

30. The West Parish, the northwesterly section of Concord. Known
for the last fifty or sixty years as West Concord.

31. Foster ville, a short court north of the pumping station of the
Concord Water-works, extending from State street to the brow of the
hill overlooking Horse Shoe pond. It was laid out some fifty years
ago by Reuben L. Foster, and lined with dilapidated houses, trans-
ported from different sections of the city. It is now absorbed in the
large settlement which has since grown up around it.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

Ferries, Bridges, Main Street, Shade Trees, Types of

Houses.

Joseph B. Walker.

FERRIES.

Inasmuch as the proprietors of Penny Cook were to live on both
sides of the river, a frequent crossing of it would be a necessity. To
meet this, preliminary action was taken by the proprietors at a meeting
holden on the 15th day of May, 1728. At this meeting it was voted :

"That Mr. Ebenezer Eastman, Mr. Abraham Foster and Mr.
Joseph Hall shall be a committee to agree with some suitable person
to keep a ferry on Merrimack river, at Penny Cook, in the most con-
venient place they can find for that purpose ; and that they lay out
and clear the best way they can to the ferry place, and after they
have stated the place where the said ferry shall be kept, that the
ferry-man shall have and receive the prices following, viz., For fer-
riage of each man and horse, six pence ; for each horned beast, four
pence ; and this establishment to remain and be in force for six years."

A year later, on the 6th day of May, 1729, at a meeting of the pro-
prietors holden at the house of John Griffin, in Bradford, Mass., it
was voted :

" That Mr. Nehemiah Carlton be desired to build a ferry boat of
about nineteen feet long, and a suitable breadth, to be well timbered,
and every way well built, workmanlike, at the charge of the com-
munity and to be done by the 20th of May current. Said boat to be
delivered at Penny Cook for the use of the society. And a pair of
good and suitable oars to be made by the said Carlton, for said boat.
Said boat to be well and sufficiently caulked, pitched or turpentined,
and finished, fit to carry people and creatures."

And later, at the same meeting, it was also voted :

" That the sum of seven pounds, eighteen shillings and six pence,
paid by several persons and several subscriptions to the sum of forty-
one shillings and six pence, be put into the treasurer's hands, and by
him paid to Mr. Nehemiah Carlton for the ferry boat when it is fin-
ished, — which was accordingly delivered to the treasurer."

Ten years later still, when the plantation had been pretty fully
peopled and had become the town of Kumford, it was further voted:
4

31 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

" That Mr. Barrachias Farnum, Mr. James Osgood and Mr. George
Abbot shall be a committee to agree with any person to take the
Ferry against Wattanummon's and make a return of their doings to
the Proprietors for their acceptance."

Some eleven years later (April 26, 1750) the proprietors appointed
a committee, consisting of Dr. Ezra Carter, Lieut. Jeremiah Stickney,
and Capt. John Chandler, " To dispose of the Ferry against Watta-
nummon's Field, so called, to such persons and upon such terms as
they shall think will be for the Proprietors' advantage."

This ferry seems to have been known for a time as " Eastman's
ferry," and later, as " Tucker's ferry " or the ferry of Lemuel
Tucker, to whom the legislature, in 1785, granted the exclusive right
of ferriage across the river for one mile above and below his house.

There was also another, possibly the one first above alluded to,
near the south end of Main street, known as Merrill's ferry, operated
for many years by Deacon John Merrill, who came to Concord in
1729, and upon the organization of the church, the following year,
was elected its first deacon. This ferry subsequently became the
property of Samuel Butters, and was known as " Butters' ferry."

Midway of these two, at the east end of Ferry street, Benjamin
Kimball operated a third, between Hale's Point and Sugar Ball,
which was continued in use until 1831.

Of these three ferries, Tucker's seems to have been the only one
operated under the privileges and limitations of a charter, eleven
only having been previously incorporated in the entire state. Its
charter provided :

" That the sole and exclusive right and privilege of keeping a
Ferry over said river in any place within one mile of the now dwell-
ing house of the said Lemuel Tucker be and hereby is granted to
and invested in the said Lemuel Tucker, his heirs and assigns, he
and they from time to time as the same fall, giving bond, with surety,
in the sum of one thousand pounds to the clerk of the Court of the
General Sessions of the Peace for the county of Rockingham, that
the said ferry shall be well kept and constantly attended.

" That if any person or persons shall for hire or reward, transport
over said river within one mile of the said dwelling house, any per-
son, creature or thing, such person so transporting shall forfeit and
pay forty shillings for each person, creature or thing so transported,
to be recovered by action of debt before any Justice of the Peace in
said county, one moiety of which shall go to the complainants, and
the other moiety to the county of Rockingham."

In addition to these, in the early part of the last century, a fourth
ferry was established at the south end of Hall street, near the head

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

of Turkey Falls. It appears to have been a private enterprise, and
was managed for a time by Col. John Carter. For lack of sufficient
patronage, or for some other cause, its maintenance was not of long
continuance.

CONCORD BRIDGES.

For some sixty years after the settlement of Concord the crossing
of the Merrimack was upon the ice in the winter, and by ferries at
other seasons of the year. At length, however, as population in-
creased and transits became more frequent, a more expeditious and
convenient means was called for. In accordance with this demand,
at a town-meeting holden on the 30th day of April, 1781, Col. Timo-
thy Walker
was made
the agent
of the town
"to Petition
the General
Court for
Liberty t o
make a Lot-
t e r y f o r
building a
bridge over
Merrim a c k
river." The
records of
the General

Court afford no mention of such a
petition, and the proposed lottery
was never made. To any who may
be surprised that the building of
bridges, so much needed, should

have been delayed so long, it may be said that at the time last men-
tioned the country was just emerging from the French and Revolu-
tionary wars, uninvested capital was not abundant in Concord, and
bridge stocks were not tempting investments. But the demand for
bridges increased and at length became imperative.

Concord Bridge.

In answer to their petition, in January, 1795, the New Hampshire
legislature granted to Peter Green, Timothy Walker, Thomas Stick-
ney, William Duncan, Robert Harris, William Austin Kent, William

First Concord Bridge, I 795.

36 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Partridge, and William Manly, a charter for a toll-bridge across Mer-
rimack river, at a point just below the Rolfe and Rumford asylum, to
be known as the Concord bridge.

The corporators met for organization at the tavern of Samuel But-
ters, on the 29th day of the next February, and at that meeting chose
all necessary officers and took measures for the immediate erection of
the contemplated bridge.

Its construction soon afterwards commenced, and was prosecuted

with such energy that it was opened for public travel on the 29th

day of the following October (1795), with ceremonies and festivities

which indicate the importance with which the event was then

regarded. These, lucidly set forth in his official record by Col. Paul

Rolfe, the clerk of the corporation, were conducted in accordance

with the following programme, previously adopted by the proprietors

of the bridge :

" PROCESSION.

"1st. The 5 Committee.

- 2. The Treasurer & Clerk.

"3. The Kev. Israel Evans with Mr. Woods & Mr. Parker. 1

" 4. The Proprietors.

" 5. The Workmen with the Master Workman at their head.

" 6. The Spectators, in regular order."

The bridge was toll free on this day. Besides the out-of-door
exercises, " the Proprietors and Workmen partook of a repast at the
expense of the Proprietors," at the tavern of William Stickney.

This 29th day of October, 1795, was a memorable one, and, as the
clerk tells us in his record, was spent " in conviviality and mirth, by
passing the Bridge, &c." Precisely what the " &c." stands for, and
what sacred duties were discharged on this occasion by the three
venerable ministers, he has, unfortunately, omitted in his record.

The expense of this bridge, including fifteen hundred dollars paid
to Samuel Butters for his ferry, was twelve thousand dollars up to
this time. This amount was subsequently increased by outstanding
bills and additional outlays to over thirteen thousand.

Federal Bridge.

First Federal Bridge. So satisfied were the people of Concord
and vicinity with the great conveniences afforded by this bridge that
they called for another, to take the place of Tucker's ferry at East
Concord. In accordance with this desire, on the 28th day of Decem-
ber of this same year (1795), the legislature granted to " Timothy
Walker, Benjamin Emery, William Partridge, -Jonathan Eastman,

1 Rev. Samuel Woods of Boscawen and Rev. Frederick Parker of Canterbury.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. :> > •

Joshua Thompson, and others, their associates," the right, " to civet
a bridge over the river Merrimack at any place within the limits of
Tucker's ferry, so called, in Concord, and ... to purchase any
lands adjoining said bridge."

It was further provided in the charter that, "For the purpose
of reimbursing said proprietors the money expended by them in
building and supporting said bridge, a toll be, and hereby is
granted and established for the benefit of said proprietors, accord-
ing to the rates following, namely: — For each foot passenger, one
cent ; for each horse and ■ rider, three cents ; for each horse and
chaise, sulky, or other riding carriage drawn by one horse only, ten
cents ; for each riding sleigh drawn by one horse, four cents ; for
each riding sleigh drawn by more than one horse, six cents ; for each
coach, chariot, phaeton, or other four-wheeled carriage for passen-
gers drawn by more than one horse, twenty cents; for each curricle,
twelve cents; for each cart or other carriage of burthen drawn by
two horses, ten cents, and three cents for every additional beast : for
each horse or neat creature, exclusive of those rode on or in carriages,
two cents; for sheep and swine, one half cent each; and to each team
one person, and no more shall be allowed as a driver to pass free of
toll." This charter also provided that this bridge should be com-
pleted within three years, and that its projectors should pay to Lem-
uel Tucker the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars for his ferry,
and allow him the free use of it during that period.

The construction of this bridge met with serious delays, and it was
not opened to public use until the autumn of 1798. Inasmuch as its
fortunes have been very similar to those of its neighbors, and it
affords a fair type of the ordinary Merrimack river bridge in this
vicinity, it has been thought proper to state a few of its varied expe-
riences in such detail as the limits of this chapter will allow.

Its location was about fifty rods above that of its last successor
bearing the same name, and now in use. Its capital stock was repre-
sented by one hundred shares, severally assessable in such amounts
as its construction might require. Its abutments, piers, and super-
structure were of wood, and it was completed in the fall of 1798, at
an expense of four thousand dollars.

Second Federal Bridge. After a service of about four years this
bridge was swept away, in part, by a freshet. Little disheartened,
its proprietors met on the 3d day of February, 1803, and, in lan-
guage as terse as hearty, "Voted to rebuild said bridge." They also
chose Richard Ayer their agent to execute this purpose, and levied a
first assessment of ten dollars on each share toward meeting the
requisite expense. Mr. Ayer entered promptly upon the execution

38 History of concord.

of the work assigned him, and completed it in the following Septem-
ber at a cost of about twenty-three hundred dollars ($2,350.22).

The strong current of the river during periods of high water seems
to have rendered its south abutment insecure, and the records state
that repeated attempts were made to fortify it by placing about it
large quantities of stones. But these efforts proved vain, and the
bridge was completely destroyed in the spring of 1818.

Third Federal Bridge. This loss of their second bridge seems to
have left its proprietors in some uncertainty as to what course to
take. Had they viewed their enterprise of again bridging Merri-
mack river from a financial standpoint only they would, doubtless,
have abandoned it. But the necessities of the community, coupled,
perhaps, with a little town pride, forbade the idea of any long resump-
tion of the use of the old-time ferry boat.

At a meeting of the proprietors holden on the 1st day of Septem-
ber, 1818, a carefully selected committee of eight was chosen "To
examine Federal Bridge and the river within the limits of the grant,
and find the best place for building the Bridge, should it be expedi-
ent to build/'

The next day this committee reported that they were " Unanimously
of the opinion that it is expedient to build a new bridge, and that
the most eligible place for erecting the same is the old Ferry Place."
Their report, signed by Jeremiah Pecker, Richard Bradley, Richard
Ayer, Joseph Walker, Samuel A. Kimball, Stephen Ambrose, and
Jacob Eastman, was accepted, and, in pursuance of its recommenda-
tions, a vote was immediately passed "To build Federal Bridge at
the old Ferry Place, and that the directors proceed to erect the same
as soon as practicable, and that they also purchase the necessary land
for a toll house, and that they build or purchase a toll house as they
think most advisable."

In the erection of this bridge it was subsequently decided that a
portion of its substructure should be of stone instead of wood, and
Jeremiah Pecker was made agent of the proprietors " To erect a stone
pier and abutment, to be built with split stone, and that he employ
Leban Page to split and lay the stone."

The records indicate that this bridge, including purchased land
and toll house, cost about fifty-five hundred dollars. It did good
service until the winter of 1824, when, against the date of February
10-11, Mr. Benjamin Kimball made in his diary the following entry:
"A great thaw, and on the 12th the ice left the river and carried off
Federal Bridge."

The injury to the bridge proved less serious than Mr. Kimball sup-
posed. The ice destroyed one wooden pier, and about two thirds of

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 39

the superstructure. Measures were promptly taken to repair the
damages and to provide a ferry for use while this work was in prog-
ress. It was completed during the summer at an expense of about
twelve hundred dollars.

Several votes passed by the proprietors about this time afford
refreshing evidence of their probity and prudence.

Upon abandoning the location of their two first bridges they had
sold their toll house to James Moulton, Jr. When, subsequently,
an adverse claim to this property was made, they at once instructed
the directors (September 4, 1825) to examine their former title,
" and if they find said Moulton aggrieved to make him such compen-
sation as they may deem equitable." In the same spirit they made
good the loss imposed upon the tollman by some unknown person
by voting " That the proprietors of Federal Bridge sustain the loss
on a one dollar bill, altered to a three, which was received by Mr.
Mooney."

The records also afford evidence of a commendable effort to keep
all official salaries within reasonable limits. By a formal vote passed
September 4, 1827, the directors, treasurer, and clerk were each
allowed the sum of four dollars for their services the preceding year.

About this time an evident desire was manifested by persons hav-
ing frequent occasion to cross the river to do so at the cost of the
town. To this the bridge owners responded by offering to all citizens
of Concord free passage over their bridge for one year for the sum of
four hundred dollars to be paid to them by the town in quarterly
payments of one hundred dollars each. The town failed to accept
the offer, inasmuch as the majority of its citizens had but little occa-
sion to use the bridge, and did not care to be assessed towards pay-
ing the toll of those who used it frequently.

Fourth Federal Bridge. Repaired or rebuilt, as above stated, the
third bridge seems to have stood securely for about ten years. In
1834, however, solicitude arose as to its safety, and a committee was
appointed to examine its condition and that of the river's bed and
report their findings to the stockholders, together with such recom-
mendations as they deemed advisable.

In compliance with the advice of this committee, it was subse-
quently decided by the stockholders (April 18, 1835) that, "It is
expedient to rebuild the ensuing year," and the directors were author-
ized to make all necessary contracts for labor and materials and hire
money to meet the same, to be paid from the future receipts of tolls.

Thus started, the fourth bridge was in time erected, at a cost of
thirty-six hundred dollars, as shown by the treasurer's report of 1836.

By this time, the project of building a free bridge was advocated

40 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

by citizens of influence, to cross the river a short distance below Kim-
ball's ferry. Inasmuch as this project augured financial injury to the
two existing bridges, the proprietors of Federal bridge appointed a
committee to oppose it (September 4, 1839), but their efforts proved
of no avail.

Thus, to the former assaults of log drivers, floods, and ice was
added a large diversion of its former patronage. Never desirable as
an investment of capital, Federal bridge now became even less so ;
yet, with careful management its income remained sufficient, barring
accidents, to yield some return to its stockholders.

In January, 1841, an ice freshet made great havoc along the
Merrimack, carrying away all of the free bridge, except the west
pier, and robbing Federal bridge of one of its piers and two lengths
of its stringers.

This damage to the latter bridge was repaired at no very large
expense, which, again taking a new lease of life, entered upon fresh
contests with the floods which periodically sought its destruction.
In these it was successful for about ten years, although the great
freshets of 1850 may have impaired somewhat its strength.

Shortly afterward it became by condemnation by the road commis-
sioners as a highway the property of the town, and its proprietors
were awarded as damages the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, which
was subsequently somewhat increased by a vote of the town. Dis-
satisfied with its condition, the town removed it and supplied its
place with a new one.

Fifth Federal Bridge. This, unlike its predecessors, was a covered
arc-truss-bridge of the Paddleford pattern. Its superstructure rested
upon piers and abutments of stone. Its cost, when completed, was
about fifteen thousand dollars ($ 14, 830. 14). While stronger than
any of its predecessors, the construction of its stone work was faulty
and led to its destruction by the freshet of 1872.

Sixth Federal Bridge. The power of Merrimack river in times of
flood, long ignored, was recognized at length, and the conviction
became general that it was unwise to longer waste money upon
structures unable to withstand it.

Accordingly, the sixth and present bridge, constructed in 1873,
under the general direction of Hon. John Kimball, then mayor of
Concord, was built with special reference to endurance. To allow
the widening of the river's channel it was made longer by forty feet
than its predecessor. Its superstructure was made of wrought iron.
Its abutments and piers were constructed of closely fitted stones,
laid in cement, so accurately fitted to each other that any impinge-
ment upon any part of any pier or abutment would encounter the

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 41

resistance of its whole mass. Thus constructed, this bridge has stood
unimpaired for twenty-nine years. While its superstructure may
need occasional renewals, its foundations bid fair to outlast the new
century.

First Free Bridge. The project of a free bridge across the Merri-
mack did not materialize until 1840. It was started in 1889, as a
private enterprise, the money for its construction having been raised
by the subscriptions of three hundred and ninety different individ-
uals, for the most part citizens of Concord, Loudon, Pembroke,
Chichester, and Epsom. These subscriptions varied in amount from
fifty cents to one hundred dollars.

Subsequently, in answer to the petitions of Ira Osgood of Loudon
and others, and of Trueworthy L. Fowler of Pembroke and others,
the Court of Common Pleas ordered highways from these two towns
to be laid out over this bridge to a point in Concord where Bridge
street now meets Main street. The damages awarded for the several
parcels of land taken for these were assessed upon the towns in which
they lay.

Upon the town of Concord was also assessed the sum of sixteen
hundred and seventy-eight dollars and fifty cents, being one half of
the subscriptions above mentioned, and awarded as damages to the
respective owners of the bridge. In short, its cost was borne in
moiety by the subscribers before mentioned and the town of Concord.
Tliis bridge was the forerunner of all the free bridges across the
Merrimack in this state.

Second Free Bridge. After a brief life of about a year it was
swept to its destruction by a freshet, on the 8th day of January,
1841, and soon afterwards was succeeded by another of more stable
construction, which stood until about 1849, when it was succeeded by
a new one of the Paddleford pattern. This in turn gave way in
1894 to the present structure of iron.

SewaWs Falls Bridge This bridge, which is also a Merrimack

river bridge, incorporated as a toll-bridge in 1832 and built soon

afterwards, has had experiences similar to those of its associates

below it. Three times it has been carried away and as .many times

rebuilt.

Contoocook River Bridges.

Penacook Bridges. When the first bridge across the Contoocook
was built does not appear. Located near the works of the Concord
Axle Company, and in Boscawen, it was reached by a highway
deflecting from the main road to that town, which, after crossing the
river, again joined this road near Johnson's tavern (now the Pena-
cook House). Colonel Rolfe intimates that this location was selected

42 HISTORY OP CONCORD.

because the river was narrow there and the expense of a pier could
be saved by building at that point.

Upon the straightening of this road, in 1826, a new bridge became
necessary and was constructed upon the site of the present iron
bridge. This stood until 1849, when it was rebuilt and did service
until 1874. It was superseded by an iron one, which, in 1898, gave
way to the one now in use.

The Twin Bridges, so called, which cross the river farther down
stream, were first constructed in 1850 ; one in Concord and the other
in Boscawen. An island in mid channel serves as a double abut-
ment for the two. The former, originally of wood, was supplanted
by an iron bridge in 1898.

Horse Hill Bridge, which spans the Contoocook some two miles and
a half above the village of Penacook, was first built at some time
previous to 1792 by persons residing on the west side of this river.
For many years thereafter the town repeatedly assisted them in its
maintenance and finally assumed its entire support. It has shared
the fortunes of its neighbors and been often repaired and several
times rebuilt, the last time in 1894. No one of the bridges across the
Contoocook has ever been a toll-bridge.

Bridges over Turkey and Soucook Rivers.

The limits of this chapter forbid giving in detail accounts of the
smaller bridges, which have been built from time to time over Turkey
and Soucook rivers. Of these, six now span the former and seven
the latter. They have been subjected to accidents of ice and flood
similar to those encountered by their contemporaries on the larger
streams.

From first to last Concord has had three distinct styles of bridges.
The one in use down to about 1850 was termed "the balance beam
bridge." It was sometimes supported upon stone and at others upon
wooden piers. When the latter were used each consisted of a mud-
sill resting upon the bottom of the channel, from which rose a series
of square posts planked on both sides and surmounted by a heavy
cap. From the up-river end of this mud sill two timbers, one resting
upon the other, rose on a slant to the corresponding end of the cap,
the upper one being of oak and designed to protect the pier from the
assaults of floating ice, log jams, and other river drift.

At right angles across the caps of the piers, and extending at equal
distances therefrom, were laid heavy timbers of considerable length
and some fourteen by sixteen inches square, termed " balance beams."
Their office was to stiffen the stringers, which consisted of large
timbers resting upon them and extending from one pier to the next.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 43

Upon these rested the floor timbers of the bridge. To still farther
increase the rigidity of these stringers, as they were termed, a third
series of heavy timbers, reaching from pier to pier, were sometimes
laid upon and firmly bolted to them and their underlying balance
beams, thereby making the three virtually one. By this means ver-
tical vibrations were mostly prevented.

The second style of bridge, which succeeded to the first about the
middle of the last century, was a lattice bridge, supported on stone
piers and covered with a light, long shingle-roof. Vertical vibration
of bridges of this style was sometimes prevented by the addition to
the lattice sections of wooden arches, supported by the piers.

The third style of bridge, first introduced some twenty-five or
thirty years ago, is the one in present use ; — an open, iron truss bridge,
supported upon solid stone piers provided with sharp, sloping ice cut-
ters upon their upper ends. These vary greatly in their details, but
similar principles of construction may be found embodied to a great
extent in each.

Four different means have been devised by which transit is made
from one side to the other of a stream: the ford, the tunnel, the
ferry, and the bridge. AVith the two last, Concord has had a long
experience. With the two first she has had none. Her streams have
been too deep to ford, and as yet, neither her wants nor her resources
have warranted a tunneling beneath them.

Thus, since 1796, down to the present time some twenty different
bridges have spanned the Merrimack alone, within the limits of Con-
cord. Had the fathers possessed the knowledge of bridge architec-
ture which we have and the -pecuniary means of using it, their earliest
structures might have been more permanent.

MAIN STREET.

Main street, called by Concord people eighty years ago " The
Street " and by outsiders, " Concord Street," was for many years
Concord's principal village street. It was four hundred and sixty-
five (465 2-3) rods long, and extended from Horse Shoe pond to the
brow of the hill above Merrill's ferry.

It was the first thoroughfare laid out in the town, and upon it
abutted sixty-eight of the one hundred and three house lots, of one
acre and a half each, which were assigned to the original proprietors
in the division of their plantation lands. It was not quite straight,
inasmuch as the ground's surface required two slight bends ; one at
a point near the east end of Montgomery street, and another near
that of Fayette street.

As first laid out it was ten rods wide, but this width proving

44 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

undesirable the lot owners were allowed to advance their front lines
two rods, thereby reducing the street's width to six rods, or ninety-
nine feet, at which it has since remained. By so doing the propri-
etors acted better than they knew, and furnished their posterity with
a highway adequate, and no more than adequate, for future needs.

Across this street ran, for many years, three small brooks, which
drained the low ground lying west of these house lots. The first,
West's brook, crossed it at the east end of Chapel street ; the second,
Tan Yard brook, near Montgomery street; and the third still farther
south, near Freight street. For these streams water courses were
made, since buried, by repeated elevations of the street, to the depth
of some ten or a dozen feet below its present surface. Of those the
two first mentioned are in use to-day.

For an hundred years the mercantile and other business of
Concord was transacted upon this street, mainly at the north end
of it. Upon it was erected the block house, in 1726, which served
for nearly a generation the triple office of meeting-house, town
house, and schoolhouse, until its superseding by the old North
meeting-house in 1751. In 1790, eight years after the legislature
had begun to hold occasional sessions in Concord, the town in
co-operation with public-spirited citizens erected a town house, upon
the site now occupied by the court house and city hall ; largely for
the accommodation of the General Court. Here, the legislature
subsequently held all its sessions until 1819, when the present state
house was finished. In 1806 the Concord bank was chartered, and
under its act of incorporation two banks of the same name were
organized, popularly designated as the Upper and Lower banks.
The former subsequently developed into the Merrimack County
bank, and in 1826 erected the brick building now owned and occu-
pied by the New Hampshire Historical society, then, with the excep-
tion of the state house, the most imposing structure upon the street.
A few years later, farther south and opposite the state house, the
Eagle Coffee House was built, for some years the finest hotel in New
Hampshire.

The establishment of the enterprises represented by these struc-
tures, together with the openings of river and rail transportation
from Boston, drew southward the centre of business to a point near
the state house. Hence, it has since gradually moved to one a little
to the south and may now be found at or very near the intersection
of this street with School or Warren streets.

Three other establishments of importance to a New Hampshire
village two generations ago were located on, or at the head of, this
street. The first was the post-office, introduced to Concord in 1792,

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 45

which subsequently followed the drift of business and never had a
permanent abiding place until 1890, when it was established at its
present location on State street. The second was the public hay
scales, near Tan Yard brook, which, by means of a windlass, raised
from the ground a load of hay or other bulky article and allowed its
weight to be read from a scale beam in an office near by, while the
third was the town pound, which stood on Pond hill.

The length of this street, nearly a mile and a half, gave rise
to North End and South End rivalries. Naturally the sentiments
of the fathers were adopted by their sons. These fought and bled
in the interests of their respective sections, which extended from
the North End south to West's brook, and from the South End
north to Tan Yard brook, the section between these being neutral
ground. A boy from either end caught on the wrong side of this
was liable to hostilities he would have done well to avoid. For
many years the bone of contention was an old iron cannon. This
was repeatedly captured from each other by the contending parties.
At length the South-enders, having it in possession, concealed it in
the stable of the Phenix hotel. Here, their opponents eventually
discovered it chained to a beam. Having by stealth gained posses-
sion of it, they transported it to Horse Shoe pond and sunk it.
Like the precise resting-place of Moses, the place of its burial is
known to no man. As the town increased in business and popula-
tion local animosities grew less and less, until they ceased to exist.

Along this street the great out-of-doors pageants have from time to
time been displayed — martial, funereal, religious, and civic. A gen-
eration ago, more or less of the New Hampshire regiments which
departed for or returned from the Civil War marched up and down
it. In earlier times, from 1784, when the legislature met for the first
time under the new state constitution, down to 1831, the members of
the General Court annually went in solemn procession up this street
to the Old North church, to listen to the Election sermon delivered
on the occasion. Most graphically has Dr. Andrew McFarland
described one of these, as follows :

" But the grand occasion for the Old North was the annual elec-
tion sermon. To those who can go back in memory to the time
when there was at least a show of recognizing divine agency in the
direction of state affairs this pulpit deliverance and the parade
attending it must ever stand as an event of a lifetime. It is the
state's one great holiday, and Concord swarms with the ingathered
multitude. On Wednesday the General Court organizes ; but Thurs-
day is the day of all days, for then the governor takes his seat.
Main street, from the state house to the extreme North End, is lined

46 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

with booths (' tents ' so called) active in traffic of sheet gingerbread,
early apples, and ginger beer, not to speak of the plentiful array of
decanters full of more heady liquors ; for temperance societies were
of much later birth. From his perch on a maple limb close to the
church door the writer awaits the coming pageant. It has already
left the state house, for does not the cannon every minute proclaim
the fact from the brow of Sand hill ? Now, faintly on the air comes
the low boom of the big drum, afar down the street in advance of all
other sound. Nearer it comes every minute, but still alone, till at
length the higher notes of the key-bugle can just occasionally be
made out. There is an almost undefinable consciousness of other
sounds, for the very winds seem to hold their breath. The more
distinct strain of each musical piece announces the approach of the
slow moving column at the head of the street, and a skirmish line of
small boys heralds the grand advance. And now, with burst and
swell of martial melody — big drum and little drums, bugles, clarion-
ettes, fifes, cymbals, and triangles — every man of them at his best —
Fisk's corner is turned, and the grand spectacle opens out with all
of war's pride, pomp, and circumstance. What a test of stretched
sheep-skin — what wind! Mark the cymbal-player, head thrown
back and swaying from side to side, breast well forward, the glitter-
ing disks waved high in air, with a flourish and a shake, as he
brings the two together with a resonant clang, to the admiration of
all small boys. The Concord Light Infantry leads the van ; white
pants, blue coats, most uncomfortably buttoned to the chin; felt-
topped leather caps, and tall, stiff plumes of white, roofed with
plumage of brilliant red. What martial mien in the captain ! (Seth
Eastman, I think) head erect, eyes sternly fixed on nothing just in
front, body stiff as a halberd, sword firmly to right shoulder, toes
well turned out! Shades of heroes and warriors! How can mortal
man descend to common week-day affairs from such a pinnacle of
glory ! This is but the escort and the grand central figures are now
in sight. Governor Fierce (father of the President) and his aids,
all showily mounted, the portly form of the bluff old governor in the
centre of the platoon, continental cocked hat in hand, bowing right
and left to the acclaiming thousands, with his aids in all the splendor
of half-moon chapeaux, ostrich feathers, red and yellow sashes, buff
breeches and most formidable, knee-high military boots. Now the
sensation is at full height. Cannon are booming, martial strains till
the air, horses neigh, the welkin rends with the prolonged shoutings
of the multitude, and billows of dust envelope every thing.

"When close to the tree, where this chronicler sits, the captain
comes to a sudden halt; pivots round on the soles of his boots to

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 47

face his company, sword uplifted with the short, quick command:
' Right and left of sections file to the front ! Halt ! Inward face !
Present arms ! ' Meanwhile the cavalcade has dismounted, and the
chargers are given to the keeping of ready-to-hand boy, expectant
of a pistareen when the sermon is over. The governor and his suite,
the honorable council, senate and house of representatives, two and
two, with heads uncovered, advance between the files of soldiery;
the band plays the salute; officers stand with sword-hilt to the
eyes ; the flag waves ; and the venerable sanctuary swallows up the
long procession, when the services follow, in which the boy of the
period takes, as I fear, but little interest." 1

It is a matter of some surprise that the colonists of the little plan-
tation of Penacook, in the wilderness, should have given to their
main street such generous breadth as they did, and that they made
their second street no less than eight rods wide. It is more so that
their successors, nearly a hundred years later, should have given to
the extension of this latter street a width of but fifty.

Indeed, those fathers of ancient Penacook did better than they
knew. Little dreamed they, when establishing the lines of their
main street upon which most of their dwellings were to stand, that
it was to form a section of one of the great highways of travel from
the Canadas to the sea, and become, in time, the chief avenue of the
capital of a sovereign state, over which busy throngs and imposing
pageants were to move ; or that, within a- few generations, science,
coupled with inventive skill, would harness the lightning to palatial
carriages to be moved thereby upon it continually and, quite likely,
perpetually.

It is impossible, at this late day, to ascertain all the changes of
buildings and their occupants on this street during the one hundred
and seventy-five years it has been in use. Some of these, however,
have been preserved, and, a short time before his decease, the late
Lewis Downing, Jr., a native and constant resident of Concord for
more than eighty years, prepared for this history the following plan
of the buildings upon it in 1827, and attached to these the names of
their occupants at that time.

1 One Hundredth Anniversary of First Cong. Ch., pp. 67, 68.

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

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PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

SHADE TREES.

Concord abounds in shade trees, mostly elms and rock maples.
The former are indigenous to the interval, where they grow in great
perfection, attaining large dimensions, and, under favorable condi-
tions, ages of from an hundred to an hundred and fifty years. They
also flourish equally well on that part of the plain upon which the
compact part of the city stands. The latter are natives of the
uplands, and when transplanted grow well for a time, but their lives
are much shorter than those of their associates, shorter, probably, by
one half.

Shade trees began to be planted along the streets of Concord at

50 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

quite early dates. The earliest recorded planting was nearly syn-
chronous with the collapse of the attempt of the proprietors of Bow
to capture the township. Its citizens then felt that the title to their
homesteads had been rendered secure, and that any improvements of
them which they might make would be for their own enjoyment and
not for that of unjust claimants.

The oldest shade trees yet standing of which an authentic record
has been preserved are the five elms at the north end of Main street,
near the house of the writer of this chapter. They were set out by
the Rev. Timothy Walker the next spring after his third return from
London, whither he had gone as agent of his people to prosecute an
appeal to the king in council from a judgment of the superior court
of New Hampshire in favor of the proprietors of Bow. Upon his
majesty's reversal of that judgment, December 29, 1762, the inhabi-
tants of Concord were quieted in the titles to their landed estates,
and felt encouraged to improve and adorn them. 1

In his diary for 1764, against the date of May 2d, Mr. Walker makes
this brief entry, " Sat out 8 elm trees about my house." Five of these
still survive, one hundred and thirty-seven years after their removal
from the interval at ages, probably, of a dozen to fifteen years.

Three of these are yet in vigorous health. Two are gradually
approaching the limits of their respective careers, wdiile the lives of
the other three have sunk into oblivion for the want of a timely his-
torian.

The finest tree in the city is the graceful elm at the north end of
Fisk street, often called the Webster elm. It was set out by Capt.
Enoch Coffin and his brother, Col. John Coffin, about 1782, the year
in which Daniel Webster was born (January 18, 1782). Hence,
doubtless, the name sometimes given to it.

The trees on the west side of Main street, between the residence of
William P. Fiske and the east end of Church street, were planted in
1818 by the late Samuel A. Kimball, who also planted the sturdy wil-
lows on the north side of the East Concord road, near the buildings
of the Page Belting Company, in 1831. There are ten of the latter,
and their respective circumferences at three feet from the ground are :
1st (westernmost), thirteen feet and five inches ; 2d, thirteen feet
and four inches ; 3d, ten feet and ten inches ; 1th, ten feet and five
inches ; 5th, twelve feet ; 6th, thirteen feet and one inch ; 7th, eleven
feet and four inches ; 8th, ten feet and six inches ; 9th, twelve feet ;
10th, eleven feet and one inch.

The ten have an aggregate of circumference amounting to one
hundred and eighteen feet, an average of nearly twelve to a tree, at

1 Moore's Annals of Concord, p. 99.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 51

their present age of about eighty years. The smaller willows stand-
ing eastward were set out by the writer in 1895-99.

The elms in front of the lot of Dr. George M . Kimball were planted
by his great uncle, Hazen Kimball, at a date unknown, but somewhat
earlier, evidently, than that of the planting of those on the opposite
side of the street.

The noble row of elms in front of the ancient building once known
as the Washington hotel were set out by Dr. Ebenezer H. Goss in
1771, and those in front of the house of Henry Robinson are believed
to have been placed in their present position soon after the close of
the Revolutionary War. Those which line the west side of Main
street between Franklin and Pearl streets were planted by Charles
Walker, about 1802, in front of his house, erected about that time.

The stalwart elms on Main street, near the east end of Thorndike
street, were planted at an early day by Timothy Walker, a relative
of the first minister. Many others of advanced ages might be men-
tioned, notably those in front of the Rolfe and Rumford asylum,
planted, doubtless, by Col. Benjamin Rolfe about the time he built
the main structure of this house, in 1764; the great elm near the
corner of South and Clinton streets ; and the tough old veteran on
Pleasant street opposite the house of Dr. F. A. Stillings.

Most of the elms on the lot of the Walker schoolhouse were set
out in 1832 by John D. Abbot and paid for by subscription. The
largest of those in the yard of John H. Stewart were probably
planted by Capt. Benjamin Emery. The younger elms at the north
end of Main street were for the most part set out by the writer of
this chapter about 1850. The flourishing elms on the south avenue
of Blossom Hill cemetery were planted by the cemetery committee
about twelve years later.

The trees thus far mentioned are mostly elms. But, as before
intimated, rock maples have been the favorite shade trees of many.
Hazen Kimball planted a fine row of these just north of the elms
before alluded to as set out by him, but only one of these survives.
In his History of Concord, published in 1856, Dr. Bouton says that
the rock maples on Centre street, between State and Main streets,
were at that time about twenty years old, making their present age
about sixty-six, and that both the maples and elms in the state house
yard are older by some ten years.

Besides elms and maples, trees of other species have been planted
for ornament and shade. There were formerly standing on State
and Main streets five sycamores, three of which still remain, — one
in the front yard of George H. Marston, one near the foot of Mont-
gomery street, and the majestic one near the house of Dr. George M.

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Kimball. Various other kinds have also been planted from time to
time, but in no great numbers. In the southeast section of the
State Hospital grounds may be seen a magnificent grove of large
white oaks, some thirty in number, evidently of great age and pre-
sumably remains of the great primeval forest which once covered
Concord's whole territory.

Since the publication of Dr. Bouton's history, forty-five years ago,
many magnificent elms have, for various causes, been removed.
Among these were the six he mentions as standing near his house,
the large ones on the west side of State street, near the east end of
Walker street, the monster on Stickney hill, one of the largest, and
perhaps the largest, Concord has produced, and the Downing elm,
near the residence of the late Lewis Downing.

The growth of the five venerable elms before mentioned, which
have shaded a section of the north end of Main street for one hun-
dred and thirty-seven years, is shown by the following comparison
of circumference measurements at heights of three and six feet from
the ground in 1764, 1856, 1864, 1871, and 1901:

CIRCUMFERENCES.
1764-1901.

1764.

1856.

1864.

1871.

1901.

«
HI

3 ft. from
ground. |

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

1st..
2d..
3d..
4th..
5th..

Ft. In.

9
9
9
9
9*

! Ft. In.

12 4
9

13
12 9

Ft. In.

14
12 3
9 3
12
12 2

Ft. In.

16 4
13 5
9 2
13 2
13 6

Ft. In.

14 10

12 10

9 4

12 3

Ft. In.

16 10

14 1

9 4

13 3

14 4

Ft. In.

15 3
13 5

9 6

12 7

13 5

Ft. In.

18 5

15 10

9 9

15 4

Ft. In.

16 4

15 2

9 10

14 6

* The 1st is the southernmost tree and the 5th is on west side of the street. The size of the
first measurement at the time of their setting out has been assumed.

INCREASE OF CIRCUMFERENCES.
1764-1901.

1764.

Inc. in 92 years. [
1764-1856.

Inc. in 8 years.
1856- '64.

Inc. in 7 years.
1864-'71.

Inc. in 30 years.
1871-1901.

w
CD
0)
Eh
H

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

3 ft. from
ground.

6 ft. from
ground.

1st..
2d ..
3d ..
4th..
5th..

Ft. In.

9
9
9
9
9

Ft. In

15 3

11 7
8 3

1 12 3

Ft. In.

13 3
11 6
8 6
11 3
11 7

Ft. In.

1 1
2
2
9

Ft. In.

10
7
1
3
10

Ft. In.

6
7
2
1
10

Ft. In.

5
7
2
4
5

Ft. In.

1 7

1 9
5
9

Ft. In.

1 3
1 9
4

1 1

It will be observed that the first, second, and fifth have surpassed
in growth the third and fourth, a fact due largely to their standing

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 53

farther away from neighboring trees than the other two. To this
circumstance the first owes its far-extending crown, which has an
east and west diameter of seventy-four feet.

The entire length of Main street is seventy-six hundred and
eighty-three feet. Between Centre and Pleasant streets, for a dis-
tance of thirteen hundred and twenty feet, no trees now remain.
Along the remaining sixty-three hundred and sixty-three feet trees
to the number of two hundred and eighty-nine shade the sidewalks,
one hundred and fifty-nine on the street's east side and one hundred
and thirty on the opposite. These stand at average distances from
each other of forty feet on the former side and forty-nine on the lat-
ter.

Under such circumstances proper trunk developments and comely
crowns cannot be attained. A well-developed elm, of an hundred
years, requires as many linear feet along the street, and a well-
formed maple of seventy-five years, three fourths as many.

The history of Concord's shade trees may, possibly, throw some
light upon the question as to the allotted age of the American
elm (Ulmus Americana). As before stated, the Rev. Mr. Walker
planted elms before his house in 176-1, one hundred and thirty-seven
years ago, five of which now remain. If it be assumed that they
were fifteen years old at that time, their present age is one hundred
and fifty-two. Three of them are in vigorous health and seem good
for another half century. The other two will probably end their
careers ere half that period has elapsed. While it is by no means
safe to generalize from single facts, the history of these trees, so far
as it goes, suggests some one hundred and seventy-five to two hun-
dred years as, under favorable circumstances, the allotted age, in
Concord, of the American elm.

And just here another question arises. Whence came to Concord
this custom of lining a street with shade trees? Doubtless from the
older Massachusetts towns in which its earliest settlers had been
reared. Whence to the latter came this custom? Doubtless from
the parks and villages of the old English fatherland.

The attractiveness of Concord's streets is not wholly due to their
smoothness as highways of travel and the comely houses which adorn
them, but in a good measure also to the graceful lines of trees which
overshadow them.

HOUSES.

Some ten to a dozen types of houses have been erected in Concord
during the period following its settlement as a plantation down to
the present time.

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

1. The Log House.
The first, intended for
temporary use, was
necessarily built of
loos, as no sawmill
was erected until
1729, three years af-
ter the settlement of
the town had com-
menced. The build-
ing first erected was
the block house, to
be used as a meeting-
house, town house,
schoolhouse, and, if
need be, as a fortress
for protection against

g^^^a

The Framed Cottage.

and that a large part of these
were framed structures. The
type of many of these was
doubtless that of the simple
one-story cottage, whose rooms
— surrounding a single central
chimney — were easily warmed.
As this arrangement met the
wants of the frugal life then
prevailing in this remote com-
munity, it was very generally
adopted.

The Log House.

attacks of the Indians. Its construc-
tion, commenced in 1726, was com-
pleted the next year. Its site was
the north corner of Main and Chapel
streets.

2. The Framed Cottage of One-
Story. How many of the early houses
of Concord were of logs there is no
means of determining. From a state-
ment of the condition of the planta-
tion, bearing date October 20, 1731,
it appears that no less than eighty-
five dwelling-houses were at that
time wholly or partially finished,

The Gambrel Roof House.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

.).)

The Box Trap House.

The G-ambr el Roof House. A third type of dwelling introduced
to Concord very soon after its settlement was the gambrel roof house,
a type brought from the older towns of Massachusetts where its peo-
ple had been born, and whence they had recently emigrated. Houses
of this description were usually of two stories, about forty feet long

and half as wide. They were covered by a
roof known as a "gambrel roof," which de-
scended on both sides from the ridge line in
two unlike slopes to the eaves. To this was
sometimes attached a rear addition of one
story of like construction. While its outlines
were not particularly pleasing and its form
suggested a ship turned upside down, it was
roomy, and, owing to its capacious attic, came
near being a three-story house.

4. The Box Trap House. Another style of
house erected quite early in Concord was a
house of a somewhat greater depth than
length, which generally faced the south, re-
gardless of location and surroundings. It was
of two stories in front, and of one in the rear.
From the eaves of the front side the roof rose by a pretty sharp pitch
to the ridge line, and descended thence on the other in a more gentle
slope to the top of the back wall. While no technical name may
have attached to houses of this model, their
end elevations so forcibly suggest an ordi-
nary box trap set for game, that this desig-
nation has been assumed for the want of a
better one.

Mr. Wilson Flagg appropriately remarked,
in 1872, of this style of house and of the elm
which so often shaded it: "In my own
mind, the elm is intimately allied with those
old dwelling-houses which were built in the
early part of the last century. . . . Not
many of these venerable houses are now ex-
tant ; but wherever we see one it is almost

The Two-Story Square House.

invariably accompanied by its ehn, standing

upon the open space which slopes down from its front, waving its
branches in melancholy grandeur above the old homestead, and droop-
ing as with sorrow over the infirmities of its old companion of a cen-
tury." i

1 Woods and By-Ways of New England, p. 86.

HISTOUY OF CONCORD.

5. The Two-Story /Square House. This
affords another type of dwelling intro-
duced to villages and large farms early
in the last century. It was usually well
built by well-to-do proprietors, a fact
which accounts for the good condition
in which it is generally found. The
most marked features in its construction
are a large, square chimney in its cen-
tre, bisecting its ridge line as it emerges
from the roof, around which the rooms
of both stories are so arranged as to
allow fireplaces in most or all of them.
Admission on the front side is through
a shallow entry between the chimney

and the outside door, while access to the The Nearly Flat Roof House -

second story is had by a stairway of so many rectangular turnings
as to make it a matter of some uncertainty whether a person, starting

from the bottom in a sober condition, would
•■ ^k-- be able to walk without staggering when

he had reached the top.

6. The nearly Flat Roof Mouse, without
Gables, also came into use about the same
time as the type last mentioned. Its roof,
pitching from a short ridge line in four
directions, was pierced by a chimney at
each end of the building. This style seems
to have been a faint imitation of the three-
story colonial mansions of the coast towns,
many of which still survive in perfect
preservation, and attest the prosperity of the country about the time
of their erection. Its depth was that of a single room, and its main
entrance was midway of its front wall. It
was quite often enlarged by the addition of
an L in its rear.

7. The Gable Front House made its first
appearance about seventy years ago. Un-
like the former, its front elevation was
formed by having a gable end face the
street. From this it extended back in
form of a parallelogram until the de-
sired room was secured. The front
entrance was generally through a re-

The Gable Front House.

The Mansard or French Roof House.

I ' H YStCAL DEVELOPMENT.

The Queen Anne House.

cessed porch which opened on one side to a long, narrow hall, which
afforded immediate access to the rooms of the first story, and by a
straight stairway to those above. Scores of these are still in use,
but few have been built in recent years.

8. The Mansard or French Hoof House. This type began to be
erected in Concord just before the Civil War, but in no great num-
bers, inasmuch as it was expensive and best
adapted to the wants of towns where large
estates abounded. It may be said of this style
of house that it allows of imposing elevations
and the utilization of almost every cubic foot
of interior space.

9. The Queen Anne House. This was intro-
duced some thirty years ago. It allows greater
freedom of architectural treatment than any
other. Its steep roofs, numerous gables and
dormer windows, its porches, piazzas, and L's,
often give to a house of this type the appear-
ance of a cluster of buildings which have grad-
ually grown by degrees into an harmonious
whole, rather than of a building of one design
and construction. Concord has several good
specimens of this type, of which it is unnecessary to say that, while
no two of them are alike, they all bear a typical resemblance to each
other.

10. The Colonial is another type of about the
same period as that of the style just mentioned.
It is not a new one. It is, rather, the renaissance
of the old colonial mansion so common a
hundred years ago, modified by the addi-
tion of porticoes, verandas, and bay win-
dows — a type more showy and palatial than
any heretofore mentioned. Its contrast with
the log cabin forcibly suggests the great
advance in wealth and improved housing
in this city since its settlement, while the
intermediate styles mark the steps along
which these have been reached.

11. The Romanesque. Of this style, which succeeded to- the Grecian
and other styles in vogue upon the downfall of the Roman empire,
Concord can show but few examples. It is highly picturesque, and,
in general appearance, foreign. It also varies greatly in minor points
in the different European countries in which it has been developed.

The Colonial.

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Ill England charming specimens of it in its simpler forms may be
found classed as Norman. It is not well adapted to the more com-
mon requirements of domestic life, and is most often chosen for build-
ings of a public character and for imposing private mansions.

By a more particular examination of the diversities in styles of the
Concord dwellings, the foregoing number of types might be enlarged,
but it seems unnecessary. It should, however, be stated that there
was a kindred variation in the types of the town's meeting-houses.

The first
consisted of
a simple,
one-story
structure of
logs, which
served as a
town house,
schoolhouse,
and m e e t -
ing-house.
The second,
built for the
standing or-
der, w h e n

The Romanesque. "('lllU'ch

and State " prevailed in New Hampshire, was
originally seen in a two-story, square structure,
having walls pierced by numerous large windows, and subsequently
enlarged by exterior additions and a steeple. To this type, soon after
the passage of the toleration act, succeeded a third of one story, with
long side windows, gable front, and steeple. ( )f the various renais-
sance types which have succeeded, the limits of this chapter forbid
particular description.

FISH AND GAME.

Fiiank Battles.

The ancient plantation of Penny Cook, the township of Rumford,
now the flourishing city of Concord, and its immediate vicinity, from
a topographical standpoint has been, and still is, admirably adapted
to the propagation and growth of many of the most valuable of the
edible animals, birds, and fishes. The varied woodland growth on the
surrounding hillsides, interspersed with the necessary swales and
brushy pastures, afford abundant protection and food for the ruffed
grouse, commonly known as the partridge, and the woodcock, — two of
the most important game birds of the state, — while in the same covers
foxes, coney rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, freely breed and flourish.
The numberless sparkling streams, which have their origin in the
springy soil of these elevated localities, form natural breeding places
and homes for the peerless brook trout, always eagerly sought. The
half dozen or more ponds within the city limits, and many others in
close proximity, have furnished in the past, and yield to-day to the
persistent fisherman, handsome strings of the more common yet highly
esteemed pickerel, perch, and pout ; and in a few of them, as well as
in the Merrimack river, the result of transplanting from other waters,
black bass may be said to be numerous.

Animals and birds recognize no human boundaries over which they
must not roam or fly, and the fish inhabiting the waters in this vicinity
are not cognizant of any town lines which may extend to, or cross,
their domain. So that whatever is said of the fish and game of this
immediate locality is equally applicable to the section about Concord
as well. It may be stated that the all-round sportsman can safely
make his headquarters in Concord, from which within an easy dis-
tance he will be sure of pleasure to a reasonable extent, unless he
wishes to engage in deer hunting or to try his luck with landlocked
salmon. Deer are now frequently seen in Merrimack county, and in
several instances have invaded the precincts of Concord, but they are
protected by the law the year round in this part of the state. The
efforts to stock the waters of Concord with landlocked salmon are of
recent date, but even now show satisfactory results.

If the reader will examine the records made by the authorities in
years long gone by he will find that the titles of the land lying on
the Merrimack river, which back to about 1732 was divided into dis-

60 HLSToiir OP COKCORD.

tricts, were conveyed in the crude though unmistakable language of
the times, and that the boundary lines of many such districts began
and ended with such and such a tree, giving the name, whether of
white pine, red oak, or other variety ; and it requires no stretch of the
imagination to infer that when the Indians first came upon and
decided to remain on what is now the rich arable interval land bor-
dering upon the river, they found it covered with a bushy growth
with here and there an area of woods, consisting of pine, maple, oak,
walnut, and other species.

As the character of the American Indian ever prompted him to
eke out his existence with as little labor as possible, one of the first
acts on his arrival in the neighborhood was to burn over the lands for
the double purpose of clearing valuable space on which to raise his
absolutely necessary corn, and to change original rank growth to suc-
culent verdure, in order that the deer inhabiting the woods adjoining
might be enticed into situations which would render their capture a
comparatively easy matter. That the Penacook tribe, domiciled in
the main as they were for years on territory which is now included
within the limits of Concord, subsisted largely on fish and game will
be readily admitted from the nature of things ; but, with the advent
of the white man, in accordance with established methods of civiliza-
tion, records and narratives of current events and conditions were
begun and continued, so that from the day of his coming there is at
hand information from which the student can inform himself concerning
the happenings of any particular period of time. From these records,
antedating, of course, the memory of persons now living, much of
interest relating to fish and game of those early days and their capture
for food may be culled.

The gunner of to-day follows his pointer or setter with nothing to
divert his attention from the pleasure he is enjoying. The fox and
rabbit hunter listens undisturbed to the music of his hounds in the
most unfrequented places. The coon hunter, during the darkest
nights, plods through the trackless forests and over rocky pastures,
ascends the tallest trees to kill his quarry, with no possibility of harm
coming to him. The angler enters the water or crawls along the
slimiest places with no thought of danger. The sportsman of other
days or the head of the family in quest of food did not, however,
roam the woodlands with the same immunity or without sense of fear.
In the early times the country about this beautiful city abounded in
savage and obnoxious animals and vermin.

In the records referred to it is learned that determined efforts on
the part of the settlers to rid the country of pests were absolutely
necessary, not alone to insure their own safety, but for the protection

FISH AND GAME. 61

of their stock as well ; and organized hunting parties were the order
of the day for many years, to scour the woods and destroy as many
as possible of the bears, catamounts, wolves, and rattlesnakes which
infested the township. These efforts were encouraged to the fullest
possible extent by the town officials, who were authorized by vote of
the inhabitants year after year to pay a bounty on all such animals
and reptiles destroyed. The sum paid for the killing of wolves
varied with different years from three pounds to one pound for a full-
grown wolf and from one pound ten shillings to ten shillings for a
whelp. For each rattlesnake killed there was paid from sixpence to
a shilling. Year after year the warfare was kept up, with the result
that the settlers finally had the satisfaction of seeing the " varmints "
practically exterminated, the rattlesnake lasting the longest, as it was
well into the forties of the nineteenth century ere it ceased to be a
pest in some localities. Who now, as he dwells in the city of his
choice, enjoying the comforts which he can obtain here and which are
made possible by the efforts of the rugged yeomanry he calls his
ancestors, can but admire their perseverance in the face of obstacles
which to-day would be considered unsurmountable ?

There is no doubt that the early settlers and their immediate
descendants depended largely on fish and game to supply their tables.
There was a sameness and plainness in their daily fare, to say nothing
of its limited quantity, which made the fish and game they could
readily catch and kill the only luxuries with which they could supply
their larder. Deer were fairly plentiful ; hares, grouse, and wild
pigeons were abundant ; the river at the proper season was alive with
salmon and shad ; the brooks contained large numbers of trout ; and
the ponds yielded liberally of the coarser native varieties of fish.
These conditions continued until the march of progress and the
increase of population marked the beginning of the manufacturing
era, when the building of dams across the river diminished the large
run of salmon and shad to their spawning places at the headwaters.
The gradual increase in the number of these structures, some of them
so built as to absolutely prevent the passage of fish, finally caused
them to disappear completely from the Merrimack, although it was
not until the year 1898 that the salmon gave it up entirely, several
fish of that species, gigantic in size, having been seen that year in the
river abreast the city.

The passenger pigeons, which our forefathers and their descendants
to within a few years held in such high esteem, and which inhabited
the entire country east and west in such immense numbers as to be
reckoned by the million, have been exterminated by the ruthless
slaughter carried on among them at their roosting, breeding, and feed-

62 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ing grounds, so that to-day the only specimens which certainly exist
are in confinement.

With these exceptions, and that of the upland plover (all migratory
species), the quantity of fish and game around Concord will compare
favorably with that of any ancient day of which there is any record.
This statement may be questioned, but is based upon an active expe-
rience of nearly fifty years in the woodlands of New England and
other sections of the country in pursuit of game and fish, and in cor-
roboration it may be said that during each of several days' shooting
in the fall of 1900 as many partridges were started as had ever been
noted in any one day of previous years. The same abundance has
also been noted in other recent years, and it is believed that partridges
are as plentiful as ever and will continue to be abundant so long as
pine forests grow and laws to prevent snaring and trapping are en-
forced. Occasionally there has been a year when some disease has
reduced their numbers, and it has then taken two or three seasons to
fully recover the losses, but the conditions are still most favorable to
their propagation.

The woodcock, another migratory bird, has rapidly decreased in
numbers apparently with the advance of civilization, but the season
of 1900 witnessed a remarkably large flight of these birds. The
same abundance has been observed at intervals of a few years apart,
with proof almost every year that a large flight had passed along,
making but a brief stop in this vicinity. In any event, the fact that
this variety breeds exclusively in the north and is killed by the thou-
sand in the south during the winter, shows that they are still very
much in evidence, although on their southern passage they may some
years elude the Concord wing shots.

The " highlander," or upland plover, to within twenty-five years,
passed over the intervals by hundreds on their southern flight from
their breeding places on the hills in the adjacent north. They are
still more than abundant in the west and are by no means scarce
here.

It may seem extravagant to assert that there are as many trout in
this vicinity as there were a hundred years ago, but is it not so? Jn
olden times the farmer or his boy went to the brook and took out
enough for a mess and was satisfied. To-day the fisherman makes a
day of it and cleans up the brook for the time being. There are hun-
dreds of fishermen now where there was only the farmer or his boy
to fish in those days, and still the trout hold out, as there are many
fine strings taken in every year very close to Concord.

Black bass have superseded the pickerel in many waters, but this
has been accomplished by the hand of man in the line of supposed

FISH AXD G AME. 63

benefit. Large sums of public and private moneys have been ex-
pended in the artificial propagation of food fish to keep up the supply.
These expenditures have been going on now for a number of years
with varying degrees of success towards obtaining the desired result.
Within the past few years, also, quite extensive efforts have been
made to introduce into this, as well as other sections of New Hamp-
shire, valuable game birds other than the native varieties, notably the
quail and pheasants. The hopes of those interested, so far as the quail
is concerned, have been more than realized, as flocks of these beauti-
ful little birds are reported in all directions, and not a few of them
have been brought to bag during the last three or four shooting sea-
sons. The result of raising and liberating pheasants around Concord
and other localities in New England has been very far from satisfac-
tory. The experiment, however, has not proved a complete failure,
although generally believed to have been so.

To sum up then, with the changes that have been noted and with
the additional statement that the coney rabbit has driven out and
supplanted the hare and that the gray squirrels have not held their
own against the woodman's slaughter of the chestnut forests, the vis-
itors to the woodlands and the waters of this vicinity in this the
beginning of the twentieth century, will not find it so vastly different
in its natural history from what his ancestors found it at the begin-
ning of the preceding one. Wherever original forests, second growth
and wild uninhabitable lands are found, there will flourish animals
and birds, the edible with the worthless, and in the public ponds of
the state, under wise protection, valuable fish will breed and thrive.

In no part of the state has greater interest been taken in fish and
game than in Concord and its immediate vicinity. Here was organ-
ized the first practical fish and game league of the state. It is true
there was an earlier league organized in Cheshire county, but it was
limited in its character and was largely a social organization. Years
ago, in the palmy days of the late John B. Clarke, there was a state
league, and work attempted under that well-known pioneer was of
practical value. Later on, the Merrimack County Fish and Game
League was organized February 15, 1883, with the writer as tempo-
rary chairman, who outlined the possibilities in the line of sport that
might be derived through concentrated action on the part of those
interested. The meeting for organization was held at Union hall,
White's opera house, and was largely attended. The organization
was perfected by the choice of Thomas A. Pilsbury of Concord as
president, Walter Aiken of Franklin, Henry McFarland, and Dr.
F. A. Stillings of Concord, vice-presidents, John M. Hill of Concord,
treasurer, and James M. Morris of Concord, secretary, with an execu-

64 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

tive committee representative of various sections of the county. The
activity of this league and the co-operation of the other leagues of the
state, with the wise counsel and valuable assistance of the state commis-
sioners, have secured a code of laws for the protection of fish and
game, legislation wise in its inception, because of the intimate con-
nection of sport of this character with the largely increasing summer
business of New Hampshire.

By way of appendix to the foregoing it should be said that sev-
eral fine salmon were taken with rod and reel in Long pond during
the season of 1902, the largest one, weighing just above fifteen
pounds, being captured by Harrison A. Roby.

GENERAL HISTORY.

NAREATIVE SKETCH.

Amos Hadley.

CHAPTER I.

Scene of the History. — Aboriginal Occupation.

The scene of the following historical narration lies within that por-
tion of the present domain of New Hampshire which anciently bore
the name of Penacook. This appellation of varied orthography, with
civilized softening of savage gutturals, was sometimes applied to a
region whose limits cannot now with certainty be defined. That
region probably extended, in undefined width, along both sides of the
Merrimack river, with the mouth of the Soucook, or the Suncook, in
its southern line of demarcation, and that of the Contoocook in its
northern. Out of this tract was subsequently carved for civilized
settlement, a restricted grant having definite bounds, and bearing the
same name — Penacook, as the Indian called " the crooked place,"
formed by the singularly picturesque meanderings of the Merrimack,
or " the place of the rapid current." In this locality have occurred
the events of savage and civilized occupation which make up the
History of Concord.

In Penacook was the special abode of the Indian tribe bearing that
name. The historic light of the seventeenth century falls only in
flecks upon aboriginal life in the valley of the Merrimack, as the sum-
mer sunlight, in that distant day, mast have flecked the wigwam or
the pathway of the dusky hunter in the dark, primeval forest. It is
historically certain, however, that the tribe occupying the soil of the
present Concord was the leading one among kindred tribes that dwelt
along the Merrimack and tributaries northward to Lake Winnepesaukee
and beyond, and southward to the great bend near Pawtucket Falls.
Those subordinates bearing such specific names as the Winnepesaukees,
the Ossipees, the Amoskeags, the Souhegans, the Nashuas, and the
Wamesits, or Pawtuckets, may, perhaps, be more properly characterized
as bands than as tribes, and all of them Penacooks, with headquarters at
the seat of the leading tribe. Possibly, too, the Indians living by the
Merrimack, eastward to the sea — including the Squamscots and the
Piscataquas, with the Aecomintas and others along the western edge
6

66 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

of Maine, and others still, as the Wachusetts upon the northern rim
of Massachusetts — were kindred to the Penacooks, as surely they
were confederate subjects of the same grand sachemship. 1

The Penacooks, warlike representatives of the Algonquins, were in
irreconcilable feud with the Mohawks, the fierce representatives of the
Iroquois. In the days of their strength, these men of the Merrimack
not only waged defensive Avar on the incursions of their traditional
foes from beyond the Hudson, but sometimes avenged themselves in
war offensive. At their first historical appearance, about 1621, they
had been much weakened by war, and other causes — among which
may have been the dread disease of 1616, which prevailed along the
seashore and at an unknown distance inland. Tradition, without
assigning dates, locates three ancient forts at the headquarters of the
Penacooks : one upon the west bank of the river in Fort Eddy plain ;
another upon the east bank opposite, on the crest of Sugar Ball bluff ;
the third also on the east side of the Merrimack, near Sewall's island.
Undoubtedly the Sugar Ball fort, occupying its excellent position,
had for its special object defense against the Mohawks ; and with it
is connected the story of a desperate battle. As was not unusual, the
Mohawks were paying these eastern parts a visit of mischief, and a
party of them had suffered repulse in an encounter with the Pena-
cooks. The latter, in precaution against their persistent foes, with-
drew, men, women, and children, within the fort on Sugar Ball, along
the strongly-built walls of which were stored their baskets of newly-
harvested corn. The Mohawks, the more enraged for their repulse,
appeared in force on Fort Eddy plain, and took threatening position.
A time of mutual watch and of mutual defiance passed ; for the Pen-
acooks dared not " fight in the field, nor the Mohawks to attack the
fort." 2 Then it was that a Mohawk was seen carelessly strolling
across Sugar Ball plain, southward of the bluff, and at its foot. The
decoy drew out of the fort warrior after warrior, in hot pursuit, while
he sped away to the river. Meanwhile, the main force of the wily
Mohawks, having crossed the river above, had, by a roundabout march,
drawn near the Penacook stronghold, and hidden there. With a war-
whoop more startling than that of the pursuers in the plain, they at
last sprung from their ambush upon the fort, now thinned of defend-
ers. But the warriors, lured into deceptive chase, were not slow to
return, and to join obstinate battle for the possession of their fortress
and its precious contents.

Tantalizing tradition tells not definitely the result. It leaves, how-
ever, the inference of an indecisive battle, in which both sides suffered

1 See St. Aspenquid, in note at close of chapter; also, Potter's Manchester, 28.

2 Bouton's Concord, 20.

SCENE OF THE HISTORY. 67

severely; the baffled "Mohawks leaving their dead and wounded on
the ground " 1 with those of the demoralized Penacooks. The diver-
sity of skulls among the human bones unearthed in later times, in
what is supposed to have been a burying-ground, northward of the
fort, denotes a promiscuous burial of the Algonquin and the Iroquois
dead. The traditional statement, " that from the fatal day the al-
ready reduced force of the Penacooks was broken into fragments, and
scattered, 1 ' 2 seems exaggerated in view of what is known from other
sources of information. The day may have been one of serious dis-
aster ; and may help to account for the weakened condition of the
Penacooks in 1623, as well as tend to suggest the date of the battle
as being toward the end of the sixteenth century or early in the
seventeenth.

When, in 1620, the first permanent English settlement in New
England was made at Plymouth, the strong chieftain, Passaconaway
— or Papisseconewa, the " Child of the Bear"- —was, as he had
been for years, at the head of the Penacook nation, or confederacy.
He is first historically mentioned by Christopher Levett, " His
Majesty's Woodward, and one of the Council of New England," who,
late in 1625, visited David Thomson, at his new plantation, taken up,
that year, at Odiorne's Point, or Pannaway, in permanent occupation,
as the first English settlement in New Hampshire. In a diary of
this visit to the region of the Piscataqua, Levett records that he saw an
Indian, whom he calls " Conway," in a natural English abbreviation of
the real but lengthy Indian name. That the chief sachem of the Pen-
acooks should have been in that vicinity at that time seems reason-
able, both from his custom of making visits, or taking up temporary
residence, among the subordinate sagamoreships in the region by the
sea, and from the special interest he must have felt in the new white
settlement within his domain.

He was now perhaps fifty or sixty years of age. To have gained
the position of power and influence which he undeniably held with
his warlike people, he must have been efficient upon the war-path,
and the scalps of defeated foes must have hung from his wigwam
pole. He had probably led in the wars, offensive and defensive, of
which mention has already been made. And from all that is known
of him, the inference seems just, that a superior discernment and
moderation, together with an extraordinary skill in the arts of the
juggler and the incantations of the medicine man, striking the imag-
ination of the untutored red man as miraculous, and that of the
superstitious white man as devilish, had quite as much to do in estab-
lishing his power, as his prowess in war. Morton, an ancient and

1 Bouton's Concord, 20. ? Bouton's Concord, 26,

68 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

contemporary historian, quaintly writes of him : "That sachem is a
Powah — that is, a witch, or sorcerer, that cures by the help of the
devil — of greate estimation amongst all kind of salvages. There hee is
at their Revels — which is the time when a greate company of savages
meete from severall parts of the countree, in amity with their neigh-
bours — hath advanced his honor in his feats or juggling tricks, to the
admiration of the spectators, whome hee endeavoured to persuade
that hee would goe under water to the further side of a river to
broade for any man to undertake with a breath; which thing hee per-
formed by swimming over, and deluding the company with casting a
mist before their eies that see him enter in and come out, but no part
of the way hee has bin seene. Likewise, ... in the heat of
summer, to make ice appear in a bowle of faire water; first, having
the water set before him, he hath begunne his incantation — and before
the same hath been ended, a thicke cloude has darkened the aire, and
on a sodane a thunder-clap hath bin heard that has amazed the
natives ; instant hee hath showed a firme peace of ice to noate in the
midst of the bowle in the presence of the vulgar people, which doubt-
less was done by the agility of Satan, his consort." 1 With such
power over the imagination of the red men of the forest, Passacona-
way had inspired them with the reverential belief that he was
endowed with supernatural powers, and that he who could do those
wonderful things, and such others, as "make a dry leaf turn green,
water burn and then turn to ice, and take the rattlesnake in his hand
with impunity,"- —must have control over their destinies, and, conse-
quently, should have their obedience. Indeed, it was the case of the
greatest mind finding its fit place as the ruling one.

Passaconaway was not at first a friend of the English who came to
possess the Atlantic coast ; he disliked them as dangerous intruders,
and would fain have prevented them from " sitting down here/' He
tried against them his mystic arts, but no sorceries could avail against
the white man's encroachments. In 1631, the English settlements in
his neighborhood were not so strong as necessarily to have precluded
the idea of their extermination by war from the mind of the jealous
chieftain. But his discernment and moderation now swayed his con-
duct ; he was too " politic and wise a man " — as the Apostle Elliot has
characterized him — to resort to war. Military considerations do not
seem to have actuated his early pacific policy ; for he had at least five
hundred warriors at his command — a body of fighting men, who, prac-
tising the savage tactics of ruse and ambuscade, though in small force,
were equivalent, for the destructive purposes of the Indian campaign,
to many times the same number of white troops employing the usual

1 Force's Hist. Tracts, Vol. 2; " N. E. Canaan," 25-26.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 69

methods of civilized warfare. He could have put the eagle's " feather
in the scalp-lock,'" and urged the hostile onsets of his fighting men, to
the present woe of Hilton's Point and Strawberry Bank, and even of
the three-hilled Boston in the strong colony of Massachusetts Bay.
But he refrained ; for with the clairvoyance of superior wisdom he
appears to have realized the inherent strength of Anglo-Saxon civil-
ization, that should go on conquering and to conquer, whatever
aboriginal savagery might do to hinder. He bowed to the inevitable,
and accepted such terms as destiny offered. In his forecast, war with
the English was sure destruction to his race ; and that forecast cer-
tainly found terrible verification, in 1637, in the annihilation of the
Pequots. Hence Passaconaway's pacific intention, deliberately formed,
was permanent, being strengthened, as the years went on, by a
desire to keep the friendship of his English neighbors, and secure
their protection against the hostile " Tarratines of the east and the
Mohawk of the west." He overcame jealousy, and became willing to
sell lands, with " fishing, fowling, hunting, and planting " rights re-
served. As early as 1632 he cheerfully delivered up to Massachusetts
an Indian who had killed a white trader. He also learned thoroughly
the hard lesson, how to bear and forbear ; for those whose favor he
always sought to conciliate did not always reciprocate in acts of kind-
ness or justice. Thus, in 1642, upon a false alarm of an Indian con-
spiracy, the Massachusetts authorities sent forty men to disarm
Passaconaway, quietly abiding in his wigwam in the vicinity of
Ipswich or Newbury. Prevented by a storm from reaching the
sachem, the armed messengers contented themselves with investing
the wigwam of his son, Wonolancet, and dragging him away, together
with his squaw and little child. Breaking from the rope by which he
was led along, Wonolancet attempted to escape, but, narrowly eluding
the shots fired after him, was recaptured. Thereupon, the authori-
ties, fearing that the outrage inflicted by their reckless agents upon
the family of Passaconaway might disaffect him, sent him an apology,
coupled with an invitation " to come to Boston and converse with
them." To this, the chieftain made the reply, not lacking in dignity :
" Tell the English, when they restore my son and his squaw, then I
will, of my own accord, render in the required artillery." "Accord-
ingly," says Governor Winthrop, " about a fortnight after, he sent his
eldest son, who delivered up his guns." The same year, too, he gave
his consent to the sale of lands at Pentucket, or Haverhill, " to the
inhabitants thereof." But while putting away resentment, and show-
ing an obliging disposition toward his white neighbors, " The Merri-
mack Sachem " did not hurry to come formally under the government
of Massachusetts, and it was not- till 1644 that he, with his sons.

70 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

" subscribed to articles " of submission. This result had been earn-
estly desired by the ambitious colony, which had just brought into a
forty years 1 union with itself, the then thinly inhabited region of New
Hampshire, represented by its four settlements at Dover, Portsmouth,
Exeter, and Hampton.

Though now a subject of Massachusetts, Passaconaway held to the
manners and customs of his race. In the planting season, when the
" oak leaf became as large as a mouse's ear,' 1 he found one favorite
abode on Penacook (or Sewall's) island, and another at Naticook near
the mouth of the Souhegan. There and elsewhere along " the great
river,'" on the fertile intervals, were the fields of corn, — with beans,
pumpkins, gourds, and melons interspersed, — which repaid rude cul-
tivation by considerable crops. The withe-handled clam-shell hoe,
wielded by a strong squaw, with a papoose strapped upon her back,
proved a not very indifferent cultivator; and an ale wife or two, or
even a shad, placed in the hill was no ineffective fertilizer.

In the fishing season, the Penacook sachem, with sagamores and
peoples, took temporary abode at Amoskeag or Pawtucket, where the
salmon and other fish swarmed, or at Ahquedaukee, 1 as the Indians
called "The Weirs," where abounded the shad, having parted com-
pany with the salmon at the meeting of the Pemigewasset and
Winnepesaukee confluents of the Merrimack. It was a lively season
of utility and pleasure for the " salvages," then gathered and quar-
tered in the nomadic villages of wigwams, simple of construction,
easily set up and easily removed.

It was during the fishing season of 1648 that John Elliot, the
" Apostle of the Indians," in his work of " gathering companies of
praying Indians," visited Pawtucket Falls, and here met Passa-
conaway, with two of his sons. Elliot writes : " This last spring, I
did meet old Papassaconaway, who is a great sagamore, and hath
been a great witch in all men's esteem, and a very politic wise man.
The last year, he and all his sons fled when I came, pretending feare
that we would kill him. But this year, it pleased God to bow his
heart to hear the word. I preached out of Malachi 1:11, which I
render thus to them : From the rising of the sun to the going down
of the same, thy name shall be great among the Indians ; and in
every place prayers shall be made to thy name, — pure prayers, — for
thy name shall be great among the Indians. . . . After a good
space, this old Papassaconaway [did] speak to this purpose : — ' That
indeed he had never prayed unto God as yet, for he had never heard
of God before as now he doth.' And he said further : that he did
believe what I taught them to be true, and for his own part, he was

1 Potter's Manchester, 33.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. il

purposed in his heart henceforth to pray unto. God, and that he
would perswade all his sonnes to do the same — pointing at two of
them who were then present, and naming such as were absent. His
sonnes present, especially his eldest sonne, — who is a sachem at
Wadchusett, — gave his willing consent to what his father had prom-
ised, and so did the other who was but a youth. And this act of his
was not only a present motion that soon vanished, but a good while
after [he] said that he would be glad if I would come and live in
some place thereabouts and teach them, and that if any good ground
or place that hee had would be acceptable to me, he would willingly
let me have it."

Though Passaconaway seems himself to have been well convinced
of the excellence of ''praying to God," — as the Indians called "all
religion,"- —yet " he had many men who would not believe," or
harken to him, and he " earnestly, importunately invited " Elliot " to
come and live there, and teach them ; " urging that ministrations
more frequent than " once a year " were necessary to convince them.
And the request was urged with such " gravity, wisdom, and affection "
that the Apostle's heart yearned " much towards them," and he had
" a great desire to make an Indian town that way " — up along the
Merrimack.

Subsequent years must have been quiet ones for the aged chieftain,
since nothing is heard of him for ten years. In 1(359, Major Richard
Waldron, of Dover, who was much engaged in Indian traffic, met, at
their invitation, Passaconaway and several other sagamores, at Pena-
cook, where they were with " a great many Indians, at the fort which
was by the river's side." 1 The next year, 1660, there was a great
gathering of Indians at Pawtucket Falls. They were of those subject
to the authority of the " great sachem of Penacook." Passaconaway
was there, venerable and venerated ; and feeling that the end of a
long life was near, spoke, at the feast, impressive words of fatherly
advice. The substance of that farewell speech, which was heard by
an Englishman 2 present, has been transmitted thus in history 3 :

" I am now ready to die, and not likely to see you ever met to-
gether any more. I will now leave this word of counsel with you,
that you may take heed how you quarrel with the English ; for
though you may do them much mischief, yet assuredly you will all
be destroyed and rooted off the earth, if you do : for I was as much
an enemy to the English on their first coming into these parts, as
anyone whatsoever ; and I did try all ways and means possible to
have destroyed them, — at least, to have prevented their sitting down
here, — but I could no way effect it [meaning by his incantations and

l N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. I, 290. 2 Daniel Gookin. 'Hubbard's New England.

72 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

sorceries] ; therefore I advise you never to contend with the English
nor make war with them."

In sad sequel to such pathetic words of unrepining appeal, came
those of two years later, when the old chief, former lord of the
Merrimack valley, hut now threatened with utter dispossession,
through English grants, petitioned the government of Massachusetts,
on this wise: "The petition of Papisseeonnewa in the behalf of
himself, as also of many other Indians who now for a long time,
o'rselves [and] o'r progenators [were] seated upon a tract of land
called Naticot, . . . now in the possession of Mr. William
Brenton of Rode Hand, marchant, . . . by reason of which
tracte of lande beinge taken up as aforesaid yr pore petitionr with
many others is in an onsetled condition. . . . The humble re-
quest of yr petitionr is that this honerd Courte wolde to grante vnto
vs a parcell of land for o'r comfortable cituation ; to be stated for o'r
Enjoyment, as also for the comfort of oths after us."' In answer to
this petition of the aged and impoverished sachem, whose submission
to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts had been anxiously sought and
gladly accepted, twenty years before, the Court judged " it meete to
grant to the said Papisseconneway, and his men or associates about
Naticot, above Mr. Brenton's lands, where it is free, a mile and a
half on either side Merrimack river in breadth, [and] three miles on
either side in length ;" including, at the suggestion of the surveyors,
"two small islands," 1 on one of which tw Papisseconneway had lived
and planted a long time, — and a small patch of intervale land on the
west side of the river, by estimation, about forty acres, which joineth
their land to the Souhegan river." 2 On this contracted estate, the
old chieftain probably spent the remnant of his days, ever faithful to
the English and praying to their God, — now his. It is supposed that
his death occurred at the age of a hundred years or more, and between
the years 1(363 and 1669 3 : certainly, at the latter date, his son
Wonolancet held the sachemship.

Six children of Passaconaway are mentioned in historical records,
four sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Nanamocomuck, was,
for awhile, sagamore of the Wachusetts ; the second, Wonolancet,
was sachem of the Penacooks; of the two other sons, Unanunquoset
and Nonatomenut, little or nothing, save their names, is known. One
of the daughters married Nobhow, the sagamore of Pawtucket ;
Wanunchus, 4 or Wenuchus, the other, became the wife of Monto-
wampate, or James, as called by the English, sagamore of Saugus.

1 See note at close of chapter.

2 xMass. Archives, cited in Potter's Manchester, 61-2-3.

3 See note at close of chapter.

4 See Wanunchus, in note at close of chapter.

ABOIITGINAL OCCUPATION. 73

The latter marriage, which, as "The Bridal of Penacook," the
poetic genius of Whittier has treated with fancy's graceful touch, has
in its simple facts historic interest. According to Thomas Morton,
who wrote in 1(332, the young " sagamore of Saugus, when he came
to man's estate, made choise of a lady of noble discent, daughter of
Papasquineo, the sachem or sagamore of the territories neare Merri-
mack river — a man of the best note and estimation in all those parts,
and ... a great liigromancer, — and with the consent and good
liking of her father," took her " for his wife. Great entertainment
hee and his receaved " in Penacook, " where they were fested in the
best manner . . . according to the custome of their nation, with
reveling, and such other solemnities as is usual amongst them. The
solemnity being ended," the father caused " a selected number of his
men to waite upon his daughter " to the home of " her lord and hus-
band — where the attendants had entertainment by the sachem of
Saugus and his countrymen." At length, the young wife having " a
great desire to see her father and her native country, . . . her
lord, willing to pleasure her, . . . commanded a selected num-
ber of his owne men to conduct his lady to her father ; where, with
great respect they brought her, and having feasted there awhile, re-
turned to their owne country — leaving the lady to continue there at
her owne pleasure, amongst her friends and old acquaintance. . . .
She passed away the time for a while, and, in the end, desired to
return to her lord." Her father sent messengers "to the younge
sachem, his sonne-in-law, to let him understand that his daughter was
not willing to absente herself from his company any longer" and to
request " the younge lord to send a convoy for her. lint hee, stand-
ing upon tearmes of honor, and the maintaining of his reputatio,
returned to his father-in-law this answere : that when she departed
from him, hee caused his men to waite upon her to her father's terri-
tories, as it did bcome him ; but, now [that] shee had an intent to
returne, it did become her father to send her back with a convoy of
his own people ; and that it stood not with his reputation to make
himself or his men so servile [as] to fetch her againe. Papasiquineo,
having this message returned, was inraged to think that his son-in-
law did not esteeme him at a higher rate than to capitulate with him
about the matter, and returned him this sharpe reply : That his daugh-
ter's blond and birth deserved more respect than to be so slighted,
and, therefore, if he would have her company, hee were best to send
or come for her. The young sachem, not willing to undervalue him-
self e, and being a man of stout spirit, did not stick to say that he
should either send her by his owne convoy, or keepe her, for he was
not determined to stoope so low."

74 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

" So much," adds Morton, " these two sachems stood upon tearme

of reputation with each other, [that] the one would not send her, and

the other would not send for her, lest it should be any diminishing

of honor on his part that should seem to comply ; [so] that the lady,

—when I came out of the country, — remained still with her father."

How long Wanunchus remained away from her punctilious lord,
Montowampate, or how she returned to him, is not known. But
she was back with him in August, 1632, when a hundred " eastern
Indians, called Tarratines," coming " with thirty canoes, assaulted, in
the night, the wigwam of the sagamore of Agawam," at Ipswich,
where Montowampate, or James, and his wife, Wanunchus, were on a
visit. " They slew seven men, wounded James, and carried others
away captive, amongst whom was the wife of James." 1 The captives,
however, were soon returned, with expectation of ransom.

The next year, " James, sagamore of Saugus, died of small-pox,
and most of his folks," as says Winthrop. It is not thought that
Wanunchus died with her husband, for she seems afterwards to have
been " a principal proprietor of lands about Naumkeage, now Salem."
A widow, after a chequered wedded life of five years, and still young,
it is not an improbable surmise that she returned to her father at
Penacook, where, certainly, were living, half a century or more later,
1686, two squaws, her granddaughters. 2

As already seen, Wonolancet, the second son of Passaconaway,
had by 1669 — possibly four or five years earlier — succeeded his
father as sachem of the Penacooks. He was born, probably, about
1619. His name, which signifies "breathing pleasantly," and which
was received, it is supposed, according to the Indian custom, after
reaching manhood, surely befitted his character. Mention has been
made of his outrageous capture, in 1642, at the false alarm of Indian
conspiracy. Afterward for years he dwelt upon the small island of
Wiekasauke, in the Merrimack, above the present Lowell. This
pleasant home he was licensed by the General Court of Massachu-
setts, at his own request, to sell in 1659, to John Webb, in order to
obtain money for redeeming his elder brother, Nanamocomuck, from
imprisonment on a surety debt. For this generous act of brotherly
kindness, he was granted a hundred acres " on a great hill about
twelve miles west of Chelmsford, because he had a great many chil-
dren and no planting grounds." Six years later, by new adjustments,
Wiekasauke was restored to him ; and there he was living when he
became sachem. After that event he seems to have had permanent
residence awhile at Penacook.

1 Hubbard's New England, cited in Bouton's Concord, 34.

2 Felt's Salem, cited in Bouton's Concord, 34.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 75

In 1(369 or '70, he removed, with at least a part of his tribe, " to
Pawtuckett, and built a fort on the heights southeast of the river."
This fort. was only for refuge and better protection, especially against
the Mohawks. That at Penacook was also kept in repair, and some
of the more resolute and warlike of the tribe doubtless permanently
occupied it and its neighborhood. Wonolancet had his home in the
" desirable position " on Wickasauke, but continued to occupy, in
their season, the planting grounds at Souhegan and Penacook, and
the fishing-places at Amoskeag and elsewhere up the river. Whether
or not his change of permanent residence had immediate connection
— as elsewhere stated — with the deadly fight at the Penacook fort,
before described, it is certain that he preferred an abode and refuge
further down the river and nearer the compact English settlements.

AVonolancet was a man of peace, — an Indian with the warlike and
revengeful element left out of his nature or eradicated from it. He
would, as best he could, defend against Indian foes ; but against
the English he would never offend, however grievously provoked,—
following in this both his own convictions and the injunctions of his
father. But though in his life he had been wont to exemplify the
Christian virtues, yet not till 1671 did he, " a sober and grave per-
son, and of years between fifty and sixty," make profession of the,
Christian faith. "Many endeavors," writes Gookin, "have been
used several years to gain this sachem to embrace the Christian
religion ; but he hath stood off. — A great reason that hath kept him
off, I conceive, hath been the indisposition and averseness of sundry
of his chief men and relations to pray to God, and which he foresaw
would desert him, in case he turned Christian." But in May of that
year, at his wigwam near Pawtucket Falls, after a sermon preached
by Mr. Elliot, Wonolancet stood up and said : " You have been
pleased for four years last past, in your abundant love, to exhort,
press, and persuade us to pray to God. I am very thankful to you
for your pains. I have all my days used to pass in an old canoe,
and now you exhort me to change, and leave my old canoe, and
embark in a new canoe, to which I have hitherto been unwilling.
But now I yield myself up to your advice, and enter into a new
canoe, and do engage to pray to God hereafter."

As his conversion had been deliberate, so was it permanent ; and
Gookin could say three years later : " I hear this sachem doth per-
severe, and is a constant and diligent hearer of God's word,
and though sundry of his people have deserted him since he sub-
jected to the gospel, yet he continues and persists."

In 1675, King Philip's War came on ; but the son of Passacon-
avvay refused to side with the son of Massassoit in the attempt to

76 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

annihilate New England civilization. But friendly as well as hostile
Indians were objects of suspicion to their white neighbors, and if
those who were hostile did mischief, it was too often imputed to
those who were friendly. Besides, the hostile Indians were pressing
him to join their side. Thus, between two fires, — troublesome
solicitation to hostility against the English and false suspicion of
such hostility, — Wonolancet determined to maintain strict neutrality
in the woods of New Hampshire, and thither he withdrew, " and
quartered about Penacook. " The General Court of Massachusetts,
because he did not return " after the planting season was over/'
ordered "a runner or two" to be sent "to persuade him to come in
again and live at Wamesit, and to inform the Indians at Penacook
and Naticook that if they will live quietly and peaceably they shall
not be harmed by the English." Accordingly, early in October,
1675, the " runners " set forth with their message, and also bore
Governor Leverett's " saf e conduct " in writing, for Wonolancet to
have " free liberty in a party not exceeding six, of coming unto, and
returning in safety from, the house of Lieutenant Thomas Hinchman
at Naumkeke, and there to treat with Captain Daniel Gookin and Mr.
John Elliot," who were fully empowered "to conclude with " him,
u upon such meet terms and articles of friendship, amity, and sub-
jection as were formerly made and concluded between the English
and old Passaconaway," his "father, and his sons and people."
They did not get sight of Wonolancet, but sent him the message.
He did not, however, see fit to comply, and thus bring himself into
the entanglements of the fearful war of races then raging in Massa-
chusetts. Now, his religious conversion having detached some of
his people, and his pacific disposition having disaffected the more
warlike spirits, he had not with him, at that time, above one hundred
Penacook and Naumkeke Indians. The Massachusetts authorities
imputed a hostile intent to the friendly chief's non-return, and,
through nervous fear, exaggerated his meager band into a dangerous
enemy " at Penagog, said to be gathered there for the purpose of
mischief." Hence, straightway, Captain Mosely, who had been
fighting with success to the southward, was sent up to Penacook,
with a hundred men, to dispel the danger menaced from that quarter.
Wonolancet, having " intelligence by scouts " that the English were
at hand, withdrew with his men from the fort, " into the woods and
swamps, where," as Gookin says, " they had opportunity enough in
ambushment, to have slain many of the English soldiers, without any
great hazard to themselves, — and several of the young Indians were
inclined to it." But their sachem, by his wisdom and authority,
restrained his men, and suffered not an Indian to appeal' or shoot

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. i I

a gun ; while, within easy musket range of the red men in watching,
the white soldiers burnt wigwams and destroyed the winter stores of
dried fish. Thereupon, Wonolancet withdrew farther into the wil-
derness, and, with his people, passed the winter (1675-76), or the
greater part of it, about the head-waters of the Connecticut,

King Philip's War proper came to an end in the summer of 1676 ;
but it had a bloody sequel in Maine and New Hampshire, which,
commencing later than the war it continued, and from somewhat
different motives, ended in 1678. This might be called Squando's
war, after its chief instigator, the Saco sagamore and medicine-man,
who was of great repute and influence in that country, and who,
from personal wrong, hated the English, and sought revenge. Into
this war the Ossipees and Pequawkets had been lured ; but having
lost many men, and suffering from hunger in course of the winter,
they came to terms with Major Waldron, prominent in military
affairs in that region. Somewhat later, in the year 1676, a treaty
" of peace and mutual good offices " was negotiated, at Cocheco,
between the chiefs of "the Indians of the eastern parts" and a com-
mittee of the general court of Massachusetts. To this treaty, Won-
olancet, having returned from his self-banishment, and having re-
paired to Dover, on invitation of Major Waldron, affixed his signa-
ture, as did Squando, with six other prominent Indians. But the
" strange Indians,*'- —as those were called who had fought to the
southward against the English, — now, in their hopeless defeat and
fear of extirpation, sought the hospitality of the Penacooks, who had
not participated in the war, and of the Ossipees, Pequawkets, and
other tribes who had been hostile, but were now in peaceful submis-
sion under treaty. These cowering guests hoped thus to escape
punishment, in becoming identified with their entertainers.

The Massachusetts authorities, however, had no tenderness for
" strange Indians,*' and, in despatching two companies eastward
where hostilities still continued, they ordered the captains, Syll and
Hathorne, to seize " all who had been concerned with Philip in the
war." Upon the arrival of the companies at Dover, on the 6th of
September, 1676, they found assembled there four hundred mixed
Indians, — and among them the kindly and innocent Wonolancet,—
all relying upon the promise of good usage made by " their friend and
father," Major Waldron. The captains would fain have fallen upon
them all without delay, but were dissuaded by the Major from ex-
posing both friends and foes to peril of life and limb in a "promiscous
onslaught." He, while owing, as they owed, obedience to Massachu-
setts, yet wishing to keep his word of protection to his red guests,
suggested this stratagem : In a pretended military training, to array,

78 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

in sham fig-lit, the Indians against the English, and by dexterous
manoeiiver, surround, seize, and disarm the whole body, without
personal harm. The stratagem was successful. " A separation was
then made," says Belknap, " Wonolancet, with the Penacook Indians,
and others who had joined in making peace . . . were dis-
missed ; but the ' strange Indians ' who had fled from the southward
and taken refuge among them were made prisoners to the number of
two hundred; and being sent to Boston, seven or eight of them, who
were known to have killed any Englishmen, were condemned and
hanged ; the rest were sold into slavery in foreign parts." Waldron's
action, though " highly applauded by the general voice of the colony,"
left revenge in many a savage breast, which the veteran's life-blood,
just thirteen years later, could alone appease.

But it was with no revenge in his heart, though, doubtless, with
much sadness, and a painful distrust of English faith, that, by order
of the court, Wonolancet retired, with his people, to Wickasaukee
and Chelmsford. There, under the " care " and " inspection " of Mr.
Jonathan Tyng of Dunstable, he remained a year, conducting him-
self, says Gookin, " like an honest Christian man, being one that, in
his conversation, walks answerably to his knowledge." The un-
reasonable suspicion of his English neighbors must have grieved him,
still he could find some compensation in the happy consciousness of
his honest and effective friendliness. He could point, with the
triumph becoming a noble deed, to his bringing back from savage
captivity a widow and five children, after saving them from the fires
already kindled for their burning. With a smile upon a grave face
where smiles were rare, he could say, " Me next," to the good minis-
ter of Chelmsford, who " desired to thank God," that the town had
suffered so little from the Indian enemy.

This sachem " in the care " of Mr. Tying had reasons to be ill at
ease. His attendant band had dwindled to a few ; " he had but
little corn to live on for the ensuing winter, for the English had
plowed and sown his land before he came in ; " and " he lived at a
dangerous frontier place," exposed to prowling Mohawks and Abe-
nakis — they being still on the war-path to the eastward. Then it
was that, in September, 1677, as Mr. Elliott says, " a party of
French Indians, — of whom some were of the kindred of this sachem's
wife, — fell upon this people, — being but few and unarmed, — and
partly by persuasion, and partly by force, carried them away " to
their settlement of St. Francis.

This captivity of Wonolancet was, it would seem, a voluntary
withdrawal under color of force — an expedient for relief and security
and with no hostile intent towards white men from whose presence

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 79

he, for a time, retired. The length of his stay at St. Francis is not
known ; but it was not permanent. He is frequently reported as
tarrying at Penacook and other places along the Merrimack. Sachem
he must always have remained ; for by that title he is uniformly
designated in the public records, and as such, to the latest years, dis-
posed of lands belonging to the Penacook domain. But as early as
1685, his nephew Kancamagus was also recognized as a sachem of
the Penacooks, and, in that capacity, signed treaties. It is probable
that the uncle, " the only surviving son of the great Passaconaway,"
retained the grand sachemship, with special authority over the peace-
able and u praying " Penacooks ; while the nephew became the
specially recognized sachem of the warlike majority of the nation.

At the head, then, of the peace party of his tribe, Wonolancet, at
Penacook in 1685, a year of much apprehension of savage outbreak,
relieved, to a degree, the fears of the provincial authorities — for
New Hampshire had become a royal province — by the friendly
assurance that his Indians there " had no intention of war," nor,
" indeed were in any posture for war, being about twenty-four men
besides squaws and papooses," Again, four years later, while the
warlike party of the Penacooks, under Kancamagus, were busily in-
tent upon hostile enterprises, he was still the man of peace, as testi-
fies this record of the Massachusetts Council, made in 1689; "Wio-
lanset, the Penecooke sachem [and] Watanmn [or Wattanummon],
one of his chief captains, came down to the Council, manifesting their
friendship to the English, and promised the continuance thereof." 1

Nine years later, Wonolancet was dwelling at Wamesit, and though
still recognized as " chief sachem on Merrimack river," was again in
care of Mr. Tyng, to whom, and others, he had transferred by deed,
on several occasions, sundry lands in his domain. His years were
now nearly fourscore. Where and how long he afterwards lived,
neither history nor tradition says. But enough is known of the good
sachem to warrant the assurance that, to the last, he obeyed the
noble Passaconaway's dying injunction to his children ; " Never be
enemies to the English; but love them and love their God also,
because the God of the English is the true God, and greater than the
Indian gods."

In the latter years of Passaconaway's sachemship, and the early
ones of Wonolancet's, Captain Richard Waldron and Mr. Peter Coffin,
of Dover, having much fur trade with the Indians, had a trucking-
house at Penacook, probably near the Bewail farm, and on the east
side of the Merrimack. There was also an Indian fort in the vicinity.
In the summer of 1668, Thomas Dickinson, an English employee of

. i N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. II, 47.

80 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Waldron and Coffin, was killed at that trucking-house by a drunken
Indian. In August of that year, the matter was, on warrant from
Governor Bellingham of Massachusetts, investigated on the spot, by
Thomas Hinchman " with sufficient aid ; " the evidence of Indians in
the case being admitted. Among the witnesses were Tahanto and
Pehaungun, called " sagamores." The " examinants " testified that
" one Thomas Payne and the Englishman slain sent several Indians
to their masters, Captain Walderne and Mr. Peter Coffin, at Piscata-
qua," ordering the messengers to " bring from them guns, powder,
shot and cloth, but instead thereof Captain Walderne and the said
Peter Coffin returned those Indians to Pennycooke, loaded only with
cotton cloth and three rundlets of liquors : with which liquors, there
were at least one hundred of the Indians drunk for one night, one
day and one half together." During " the time of their being so
drunk . . . all the Indians went from the trucking-house, except
one, who remained there drunk . . . and killed the Englishman
— the other Englishman being at the time in the fort."

It also appeared in evidence, " that an Indian, hearing the slain
Englishman cry out, swam over the river, and went to the trucking-
house, where he found the Englishman dead ; and that presently
after he saw the Indian who killed " him " going towards the fort
with his knife bloody in his hand." The murderer, being asked why
he had done the deed, replied that he was " much sorry," and that
" he had not done it, had he not been drunk." When told that " they
must kill him for it," he said " he was willing to die for it," and that
" he was much sorry for the death of the Englishman."

The record then proceeds : " The Indians then belonging to the
fort, held a council what to do with the said murderer," and "after
some debate, passed sentence that " he should be shot to death ; which
sentence was accordingly performed the then next ensuing day, about
noon. The murderer died undauntedly, still saying " he was much
sorry for the Englishman's death."

In further investigation, four English witnesses testified that
" going to Pennycooke " in the " month of June and riding to the
fort there were told " of the killing of the Englishman ; and " that
Tahanto, a sagamore, being afraid that " they " had brought liquors
to sell, desired " them, " if " they "had any . . . to pour it upon the
ground, for it would make the Indians all one Devill." This urgent
appeal of the ancient sagamore, so strong in its simplicity, and so
broad in application, — whatever its immediate effect, — was to per-
petuate the name of Tahanto, as one to rally by in future organized
efforts against the evils of strong drink. 1

1 N. H. His. Society's Collections, Vol. III.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. M

It should be added that, in this case of nun and murder, justice
did not content itself with the Draconian penalty, paid by the guilty,
but repentant, red man; it brought white men also to account.
Heavy blame was found to rest upon the murdered man, and his
associate Payne. The latter, upon confession, "that he sold rum to
the Indians," and "that he did this when Thomas Dickinson was
killed," was fined thirty pounds. Waldron exculpated himself under
oath; but Coffin was so far implicated that he confessed " his grief
for the miscarriage, and more especially for the dishonor of God
therein;" and, throwing himself upon the mercy of the court, was
found to have "traded liquors irregularly, and contrary to law," and
was fined in " the sum of fifty pounds and all charges."

For the seven years onward from about 1683, Kancamagus, alias
John Hogkins, or Hawkins, is more prominent in history than Won-
olancet. He differed widely in character from the latter, as well as
from his grandfather, Passaconaway. He loved the war-path, and
was never in his element save when he was upon it. He was the
'.' wild Indian " in his hatred of the whites, and in his sullen resent-
ment and cunning revenge. His father, Nanamocomuck, Passacona-
way's eldest son, having for some reason, come to fear, if not to hate,
the English, left the Wachusetts, of whom he was sagamore, and
retired to the country of the Androscoggins, in Maine, where his
death occurred probably before that of Passaconaway. The son be-
came prominent among the Androscoggin warriors, gained a chief-
taincy, and "maintained a fort" in connection with Worombo, the
sachem.

It was natural that the more warlike of the Penacooks should will-
ingly come under the sway of the active and fiery grandson of their
greatest sachem, and so, as has already been seen, they did. Their
numbers now constantly grew by accretions of restless and disaffect-
ed men from various quarters, including many " strange Indians,"
among whom were not only the friends of those seized at Dover, in
1676, and sold into slavery at Barbadoes, but also some of the latter
themselves, who had returned from banishment. By 1684, the Pen-
acooks under Kancamagus had become a source of serious apprehen-
sion to their English neighbors. Finally, such alarm arose from the
suspected hostile intents, not of the Penacooks alone, but of the east-
ern savages in general, that the provincial government of New Hamp-
shire, in desperate resort, invited the Mohawks " to fight against the
Indians of the East." Nothing loth, those eager warriors got ready
to make descent upon New England in the summer of 168o ; threat-
ening to destroy all the Indians "from Narragansett to Pechypscott '"
(Brunswick), in Maine. Kancamagus, at Penacook, heard of this.
7

82 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

He hated the English no less, but he feared the Mohawks more. He
applied to Governor Cranfield for protection, and promised submis-
sion, but he got no satisfaction from that official or any other. Such
neglect did not strengthen the sachem's amiable intent, if any he
really had. He forthwith retired with most of his men to the An-
droscoggins ; while the Sacos and neighboring tribes, hearing of the
Mohawk threat, withdrew inland to Penacook. The alarm caused by
this movement prompted the government to send messengers to that
place, to order back those who had retired thither from the seaboard
and to learn the truth. The messengers obeyed orders, and returned,
as has before been said, with Wonolancet's peaceful assurance. Nego-
tiations followed, which resulted in a treaty of mutual aid and protec-
tion between the provincial council and the Indians of Maine and
New Hampshire, which Kancamagus joined in signing, September
19, 1685, and which secured peace for four years.

" King William's War " was declared in 1689. Of course it meant,
for New England, a border Indian war, instigated by the French, as
meant all the wars of that period between France and Old England.
There had been here, the year before, bloody premonitions of the
coming struggle. For some of the Indians of Maine had undertaken
hostile reprisal, — having grievances of their own against the English,
and being also stirred up by the influential Frenchman, St. Castine,
whose plantation at the mouth of the Penobscot had been wantonly
despoiled by Andros, the Stuart viceroy of New England. Moreover,
Kancamagus and his Penacooks had come into league with the
Ossipees, Pequawkets, Sacos, Androscoggins, and other eastern tribes.
With these were incorporated the " strange Indians." The Penacook
sachem was a leading spirit in this savage conglomeration, and con-
genial with him were such warriors as Mesandowit, Metambomet,
of Saco, and Wahowah, or Hope-Hood, son of Robinhood, sachem of
Kennebec. Hope-Hood had been especially mischievous, and had
come to be characterized as " a tiger, and one of the most bloody
warriors of the age." In April, 1689, — about the time when the
Andros government was overthrown in revolution, leaving New
Hampshire with no government, and Massachusetts with a provisional
one, — the temporary authorities of the latter province ordered the
despatch of a messenger to Penacook " to ascertain the number and
situation of the Indians there, and to concert measures for securing
Hope-Hood and other hostile Indians." The " tiger " was not then
secured ; but he escaped, only to perish the next year, at the hands
of friends who mistook him for a hostile Iroquois. 1

The confederate warriors had rendezvous at Penacook fort, — and

1 Belknap's New Hampshire (Farmer's edition), 133.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 83

there, in the early summer of 1689, they devised the surprisal of
Cochecho, and made ready to wreak on Major Waldron, for alleged
violation of faith and hospitality, the vengeance delayed for thirteen
years, but not forgotten. Moreover, there existed grudges against
the veteran Indian trader for alleged sharp practice in his business
dealings with the red men, in which too often, as it was believed, his
fist was made to answer " for a pound weight as against their furs." 1
But the deadly designs of the hostile chiefs leaked out ; and, on
the 22d of June, two friendly Indians, Job Maraniasquand and
Peter Muckamug, hastened down to Chelmsford to inform Colonel
Hinchman of the speedy mischief designed " by a gathering of
Indians at Pennecooke," against the English — especially Major
Waldron, at Cocheco. The informants also reported Hawkins as a
" principal enemy and designer," who threatened " to knock on the
head whosoever came to treat, whether English or Indians.'* 2 This
startling intelligence was communicated to Thomas Danforth of the
council, and by him to Governor Bradstreet, on the very day of its
reception. But, for some unknown reason, — possibly, from the con-
fusion resulting from the revolutionary deposition of the Andros
government, — the matter did not receive attention till the 27th of
June. Then a messenger was hurried off for Dover with a warning
to Waldron, and with no time to spare, if the fell purpose of the sav-
ages was to be defeated. But time had to be spared, for the messen-
ger met with unavoidable delay at Newbury ferry. He could reach
his destination only on the morning of the 28th of June ; too late,
for during the previous night Kancamagus and his party had accom-
plished the surprisal of Cocheco, and " with violence and rage de-
stroyed, and laid waste before them." They had " crossed out their
accounts" in gashes upon the breast of the dying Waldron ; they had
slain twenty-two others — men, women, and children ; and, leaving in
ashes six houses and " the mills upon the lower falls," they had taken
away with them twenty-nine captives in unmolested retreat towards
Canada.

After this bold achievement at Dover, Kancamagus never returned
to Penacook. He and his following probably sought security in
Canada and Maine. He was outlawed by the general court of
Massachusetts, and a price was set upon his head. Captain Noyes
was sent with soldiers to Penacook, but found nothing except corn
to destroy. The Penacooks had disappeared, — either hidden or fled.

But, in 1690, Kancamagus came to severe fighting with Major
Benjamin Church along the Androscoggin, in which he was worsted ;
and in November of the same year, under the alias of Hawkins, he

1 Belknap's New Hampshire (Farmer's edition, 78). - Potter's Manchester, 91-2.

84 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

was one of the six eastern sachems who signed the trace of
" Sackatehock," running until 1692. Thenceforth nothing is heard
of the last war sachem of the Penacooks. The conjecture that he died
not long after the truce of 1(390 derives likelihood from the fact
that during the six remaining years of King William's War, and the
nine of Queen Anne's which followed, no mention of him occurs ; for
Kancamagus, if alive, with his vigor unspoiled by age, with his
ungovernable propensity for warfare, and his undoubted ability as an
Indian captain, must have been, sometime and somewhere, in the con-
flicts of those days, and being in them would have been heard of in
history. The inference, then, is reasonably safe that his death occur-
red before that of Wonolancet, who was living in 1697, the chief
sachem on the Merrimack.

It has been seen that the immediate following of Kancamagus,
directly engaged in the surprisal of Cocheco, with perhaps some
others, permanently left Penacook. Possibly others of his adherents
did not at once do so. At any rate, in one of the Indian assaults
upon Haverhill — probably, that of 1693 — Isaac Bradley was one of
the captives, and testified, some forty years later, that he " was taken
prisoner by Indians, part of whom were of the Merrimack Indians,
and others of them belonged to the Saco." : The term " Merrimack"
seems a natural substitute enough for "Penacook"; especially in
view of the broken condition of the tribe — part peaceful, part war-
like. It is safe to conclude that the former, the adherents of Wono-
lancet, — who was still alive, — were not in the foray upon Haverhill.
The latter, then, the recent followers of Kancamagus, must have
been of those who were engaged in that attack, and who either still
dwelt in the Merrimack valley, or had temporarily returned thither.
Bradley leaves this point in uncertainty, though he says he " went
with them hunting to Merrimack river above Penicooke."

Ultimately, however, these hostile Penacooks all left for Maine and
Canada, to become parts of other Indian organizations. Thus some
of them became merged with the Pequawkets, already composed of
remnants of other tribes once belonging to the Penacook confederacy.
The conglomerate Pequawkets, having located themselves upon the
upper Saco and its branches, did much mischief for two or three
years, till having been effectually humbled in Lovewell's tight at
Fryeburg in 1725, they retired to the head waters of the Connecticut,
and afterwards to St. Francis. Some of the peaceable Penacooks
also removed to the latter place, where Wonolancet had once tarried ;
but most of them remained in their old haunts, — hunting, fishing, and
planting. The soil, however, was no longer theirs, save at the suffer-

1 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XIX, 319-20.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 85

ance of those who had received it by deed from Wonolancet or his
father, years ago. How far along into the next century they retained
their distinct tribal organization is not known. But early in it, they
had as a leading sagamore, resident at Penacook, one Wattanummon,
or Walternummon, with whom Bradley, in his deposition already
cited, says he " was well acquainted " after his return out of captivity
about the year 1702, and while employed "for many years after as a
pilot" up the river, and whom he styles "an Indian sachem and cap-
tain of the Merrimack Indians." In 1703 the Penacooks were repre-
sented by the same chief, under the name of Waternummon, in the
conference held by Governor Dudley at Casco, with delegates from
several Indian tribes.

In this connection, the following entry 1 made in the Colonial Rec-
ords of Massachusetts, as late as August 21, 1733, may have signifi-
cance, while being otherwise of historic interest : " Wanalawet, chief
of the Penacook Indians, and divers others of the tribes attending,
were admitted to the council. Wanalawet made demand of the lands
at Penicook, from Suncook to Contoocook, as his inheritance, saying
that they were never purchased of him or his fathers ; and he, like-
wise, in behalf of the Indians resorting to Penicook, prayed that a
trading-house might be set up there. The Governor thereupon ac-
quainted the Indians that Wonalanset, Chief Sachem on Merrimack
river, had sold all those lands to the English almost forty years ago ;
and the Secretary showed the Indians the record of his deeds, [at]
which they expressed themselves satisfied, and acknowledged that
the English had a good right to the said lands by those deeds. And
then the Indians were dismissed." 2

This occurred seven years after the permanent English occupation
of Penacook ; and the brief official record awakens curiosity to know
more of the chief, who, at that late day, was demanding his " inheri-
tance," as never having been " purchased of him or his fathers." And
while history tolerates no mere conjecturing, it can permit the ques-
tion, — May not Wanalawet have been of the royal line of Passacona-
way, and the last sachem of the thin and fading race of the Penacooks?

It is recorded of the Indians who remained in Penacook until and
after English settlement in 1725-'26, that they "were highly useful
to the first inhabitants, supplying them with food in the winter of
1726-'27, when almost in a state of starvation." 3 One of those who
lingered in their old home after white occupation was Wattanummon,
already mentioned as " one of the chief captains of Wonolancet," and
as a sagamore. In 1683, as "Wattanummon," then resident at

1 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV; Town Charters, Vol. I, 56-7.

2 See Wanalawet in note at close of chapter.

3 Bouton's Concord, 40.

86 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Wamesit, he signed, with Joseph Traske, another Indian, a deed con-
veying to Jonathan Tyng, of Dunstable, a considerable tract of land
lying on the west side of the Merrimack and along the Sonhegan. It
is also recorded of him under the name of Waternnmmon, that while
living at Newbury, in 1689, he preserved by friendly interference,
Colonel Dudley Bradstreet and family, in a murderous attack made
upon Andover by " a company of thirty or forty Indians."

In 1726, the old and friendly sagamore, now living, as he had been
for years, in Penacook, had his wigwam " on a knoll " beside the
brook which, by the confluence of two smaller streams, becomes the
outlet of the pond whose form has named it Horse Shoe. His rude
dwelling stood near by and easterly from the site of the present high-
way bridge, which bridge has been named for the chieftain, as has also
the brook in which he set his eel-pots. He occupied the land which
lay northerly of the brook from its junction with the Merrimack,
and, which extending along the right bank of the latter for a consid-
erable distance, bore the name of Wattanummbn's Field. It was into
this open and extensive tract of tempting meadow that Captain
Ebenezer Eastman one summer day went over from his own prem-
ises across the river, with his men, to make hay. But the old man,
gun in hand, soon appeared with his two sons to forbid the tres-
pass ; asserting his claim to land and grass, and raising his gun to
enforce it. The captain assented to the claim, called off his men
from work, and invited the whole party to luncheon in the shade.
A bottle was presented to the father, of which he drank freely and
without scruple ; but a cup of its contents being offered one of the
sons, the old man hastily interposed with " He no drink !" snatched
away the cup, and swallowed the dram himself with gusto. (Jener-
osity was born of the beverage, and the old sagamore-farmer, extend-
ing his arms, exclaimed, " My land ! my grass ! all mine — every-
thing ! You may cut grass — all you want ! " " After this friendly in-
terchange of property — rum for grass,"' —says Dr. Bouton, " Captain
Eastman and Wattanummon lived in peace on opposite sides of the
river." What became of this former chief captain of Wonolancet, and
true disciple of his pacific policy, is not known.

Contemporary with Wattanummon seems to have been Pehaungun,
" a celebrated warrior, whose wigwam and planting-grounds were on
the east side of the river." 1 He died in 1732, at an advanced age.
But it seems hardly probable that his age was so great as it must have
been, if he was the person, who, named Pehaungun and described as
an " ancient Indian," testified with Tahanto in the rum-and-murder
trial of 1668. If the identity really exists, he must have been one

1 Bouton's Concord, 48.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 87

hundred and twenty years old or more at his death, as some have
supposed. But whatever his length of days, he certainly lacked, in
the story told by tradition of his death, the moderation " which should
accompany old age." It is related that the old warrior's wigwam was
one night the scene of a " big drunk," with great noise and outcry
that called Captain Eastman thither. Entering the wigwam he found
the " ancient Indian " and his guests drinking heavily " from the
bung-hole of a keg of rum." The English neighbor being invited to
drink, " hoisted the keg to his mouth," but let more of the liquid fire
run out than in. Pehaungun, angered at the ruse, as an insult to
proffered hospitality, threatened to kill the offender. But with proper
discretion, and in good order, Captain Eastman withdrew.

Pehaungun did not awake the next morning, but lay dead in his
wigwam. When those who had reveled with him would bury him,
the fear fell upon them that the old warrior might return in spirit to
plague them. They laid him in the ground, encoffined in a hollow
log of pine, with lid of slab, and close fastening of withes bound all
about ; and, to " make assurance double sure," they " stamped down
hard " each layer of earth thrown in to fill the grave, repeating half
triumphantly all the while, " He no get up. He no get up." Then
the participants in this grotesque burial service, having, with " danc-
ing, howling, wailing, and tearing of hair," set the grave about with
boughs of willow, withdrew to conclude the last Indian funeral known
to have been held in Penacook with another " big drunk ' —at which
Pehaungun did not preside.

Another incident of traditional Indian history, of date but little
later than that of th } vhite settlement of Penacook, finds here
appropriate place. The story runs, that Peorawarrah, a chief, having
stolen the wife of another Indian living down the river, had, with
his paramour, paddled his canoe to Sewall's island, and there landed
for the night. The deserted husband, who had on foot traced the
enamored pair to their landing place, lay in wait all night on the
opposite east bank. At dawn Peorawarrah and his stolen squaw
took canoe for further flight up the river. But by a turn in the cur-
rent, the couple were brought within range of the injured husband's
gun. At one shot, " both were killed — fell overboard and sunk."
" The report of the gun was heard by one of the settlers — tradition
says Ebenezer Virgin — who afterwards met the Indian who had
satiated his revenge." 1 The latter told what he had done, and said,
" Peorawarrah had good gun." Virgin verified the statement, by
finding, in a search of the river, " Peorawarrah's gun " — a " good "
one — which still exists, a valued relic and heirloom. 2

1 Bouton's Concord, 47. 2 See note at close of chapter.

88 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

The body of the woman was borne down stream and lodged upon
the east bank of the Merrimack, where it was found bearing the bul-
let's mark. It was buried in a piece of land, whch lies due west from
Federal bridge, " bordering the river;" 1 and has since been known
as trie " Squaw's Lot," in remembrance of the Indian Helen whose
Paris was Peorawarrah.

The chief scene of a famous exploit, in which a woman led, in the
last year of King William's War, lay within the former limits of Pen-
acook, though later exeluded from Concord by slight change of
boundary. The story of that exploit has been often told, with many
variations : its facts, without accretions of fancy, may here form an
appropriate pendant to this chapter of Indian history. On the 15th
of March, 1697, a band of Indians fell upon " the skirts of Haver-
hill," 2 with intent to kill, ravage, burn, and captivate. Hannah
Dustin, wife of Thomas, was lying at her home, still weak in child-
lied, with her babe but seven days old, and with her nurse, Mary
Neff, in attendance. Mr. Dustin, at work in his field, hearing the
fearful war-whoop, hurried to his house. Ordering his children —
seven of his eight, and of ages from two to seventeen — to make, with

all haste,
for " some

ga r r l s o n
in the town," he thought to res-
cue his wife and infant child.

Peorawarrah's Gun.

But the savages had come so
near, that, in despair of effecting this intent, he seized his gun, and,
mounting his horse, rode on after his fleeing children, resolving that,
when he should reach them, he would snatch up the one he loved most,
and ride away to safety — leaving the others "under the care of the
divine Providence." 2 And now he had come up with the panting group
—but he could not choose one from among them, all so loved; he
must defend them all, and with all live or die. Bringing up the rear
of the fugitives, he kept the pursuers at bay, as they skulked behind
tree and fence, firing ineffectual shots, while he with presented gun
repelled their too near approach, until the baffled red-skins gave over
the chase, and at length he and his precious charge unharmed reached
the garrison a mile or more away.

Meanwhile other "furious tawnies" 2 had invested the brave man's
home, and, having taken prisoner the nurse seeking escape with the
babe in her anus, had entered the house, and captured the astonished
matron, who "saw the raging dragons rifle all that they could carry
away, and set the house on fire." 2 Straightway Mrs. Dustin and her

1 Bouton's, Concord, 46. 2 Mather's Magnalia.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 89

nurse, with " about a half a score of other English captives," 1 were
put upon their northward march — helpless prisoners "of those whose
tender mercies were cruelties/ 1 1 Indeed, they had not gone far,
when before the dazed eyes of its mother, the merciless captors
" dashed out the brains of the infant against a tree " ; 1 and, thence-
forth, more than once, the hatchet was heard to crash out the life of
some weary victim fainting by the way. Dreary and painful to the
agonized mother, with but one shoe to her feet, was that journey, in
an inclement season, through the wilderness, to the little island at
the Contoocook's mouth, where her savage master tarried; 2 and
where also were abiding another warrior, three women, seven chil-
dren, and an English youth, Samuel Lannardson, taken captive at
Worcester, the year before. Thence the prisoners were to be taken
to Canada, and there sold to the French, for possible future release
by ransom.

At length, notice was given the " poor women " that they would
soon set out for " a rendezvous of savages, which they call a town,
somewhere beyond Penacook ; and . . . that when they came to
this town, they must be stript, and scourged, and run the gauntlet
through the whole body of Indians." 1 But Mrs. Dustin, pondering
the woes that had befallen her, and dreading the woes that threatened
her, at the hands of those whom she could esteem no better than the
ravenous wild beasts, upon whose heads, as well as theirs, a price
was set, felt herself nerved with strength for the heroic task of rescue.
She braced up Mary Neff and the youth Lannardson to her purpose.
Through the latter she sought instruction in the use of the tomahawk
and scalping-knife. The youth asking his unwary master, where he
would strike a man, if lie wished to kill him instantly, and how he
would take off a scalp, the latter replied, — laying his finger on his
temple, — " Strike here ! " l and added the desired information how
to scalp adroitly. This information, communicated to the resolute
women, found them apt learners.

A few weeks elapsed, and the fatal night came, when, " a little be-
fore break of day, " the three captives, " with wise division of labor," 3
smote with tomahawks, deadly sure, the sleeping red-skins, — as they
had been instructed, — and of them instantly killed ten. Mrs. Dustin
slew her master, and Lannardson his, who had so unwittingly told
him how to do it. One boy, purposely spared, disappeared in the
darkness ; and an aged squaw, left for dead, rallied from the blows
dealt her, and escaping to another encampment where other prisoners

1 Mather's Magnalia.

2 See Mrs. Dustin's Escape, in notes at close of chapter.

3 Bancroft's United States, Vol. Ill, 188. Charles R. Coming's Address: Proceedings of
N. H. Historical Society, Vol. II, 49.

90 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

were held, told Hannah Bradley, also a captive from Haverhill, what
her neighbors, Hannah Dustin and Mary Neff, had done. The scalps
of the victims were taken and wrapped in linen stolen from her own
house, to be witnesses of the almost incredible feat ; for else, who
would believe their report? With these ghastly proofs, and with
provisions gathered from the stores of the slain, Mrs. Dustin, taking
also her dead master's gun and the tomahawk with which she slew
him, set out, with her two companions, for Haverhill. However the
journey thither was made, and whether on foot or in canoe, or par-
tially by each, it was safely accomplished in the early days of April.
On the twenty-first of that month, " after recovery from fatigue,"
Mrs. Dustin, accompanied by her husband, who had saved the chil-
dren all but one, and by her late companions in captivity, arrived in
Boston to ask of the General Court of Massachusetts recompense for
" an extraordinary action in the just slaughter of so many of the
barbarians." The scalps, gun, and tomahawk sufficiently enforced
her petition, and, within a few weeks, a reward of fifty pounds was
ordered to be paid — one half to Mrs. Dustin ; the other half, in equal
parts, to Mary Neff and Samuel Lannardson. The feat elicited gen-
eral admiration and approval, of which the doers received many tok-
ens in presents of substantial value, including a generous gift from
the governor of Maryland. The exploit involved no unwomanly
element of revenge. It was an achievement of righteous vengeance,
in which Hannah Dustin glorified the heroic in woman. 1

Since the sixties of the eighteenth century and the French wars of
that period no Penacook, or Indian of Penacook descent, has been
seen in the valley of the Merrimack. Those red sons of the forest,
branch of a still fading race, perished long ago, leaving to crumbling
bluff or white man's excavations occasionally to reveal, as relics of
aboriginal occupation, their buried bones. 1 The Penacook has become
a memory ; but a memory worthy to be preserved in history, as best
it may be, from inadequate data, as well as perpetuated in the appli-
cation of the names of such noblemen of nature as Wattanummon
and Tahanto, Wonolancet and Passaconaway, to the uses of modern
days.

1 See notes at close of chapter.

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION. 91

Notes.

St. Aspenquid. There is a legend which would identify an Indian
apostle of Christianity, called St. Aspenquid, with Passaconaway,
grand sachem of the Penacooks. That Indian, in May, 1688, died,
and was buried on Mt. Again enticus, in Maine. His funeral was
held there with much grotesque observance, and with the attendance
of many sachems and warriors of various tribes. The legendary
confusion of Passaconaway with St. Aspenquid has historical signifi-
cance, as tending to show what the Penacook confederacy included in
its eastward extension, and how widely prevalent was the authority
and reverent estimation in which the great Penacook sachem was
held. [See New Hampshire Historical Society Collections, Vol. Ill ;
also Thatcher's Indian Biography, Vol. I, 322-3 ; also Albee's New
Castle, 62.]

Grant to Passaconaway. The grant of lands mentioned in the text
included two small islands near Thornton's Ferry, later known as
Heed's Islands. The whole tract afterwards reverted to the govern-
ment, and was granted, in 1729, to Joseph Blanchard and others.
[Bouton's Concord, 26.]

Date of Passaconaway 's Death. The date 1665 has been assigned
by some writers, but with no adequate reason given. [Plumer MSS.
Papers in New Hampshire Historical Society Library.]

Wanunchus. Whittier calls the Bride of Penacook Weetamoo, a
name more euphonious — whether historically authentic or not — than
Morton's Wanunchus. The form Wltamu is occasionally given.

Wanalawet and the Minister of Rumford. In the "Annals of Con-
cord," it is said, in a note on page 30 : " Rev. Mr. Walker, who was
beloved by all his parishioners, was also esteemed by the Indians,
and, when not in open war, they used to visit his house, where they
were always well treated. At one time they came to his house com-
plaining, in angry terms, that the white people possessed their lands
unjustly. Mr. W. informed them that they were purchased of their
chiefs, and that the deed signed by them was to be seen in Boston.
He finally advised them to go and see it. To this they assented ;
and, on their return, called and took some refreshments, and said
that they had seen the papers, and were perfectly satisfied. This
deed is the famous instrument of Wheelwright, now generally believed
to be a forgery."

The above statement assigns no date ; but it is reasonable to sup-
pose that the facts therein mentioned belong to the year 1733 ; that
the Indians mentioned were Wanalawet and his party ; and that
they went to Boston to examine title deeds, at the suggestion of Mr.

92 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Walker, the minister of Rumford. The deed which they saw in
Boston was doubtless one of Wonolancet's, and not the forged
Wheelwright instrument, which, if seen, could have afforded no sat-
isfaction, for it did not cover the territory of Rumford, or any other,
within more than twenty miles distant.

" PeoraivarraKs Grim." This gun — spoken of in the text, with
illustration — descended at the death of Ebenezer Virgin to his son
John ; then to his grandson John, from whom it was obtained by
Jonathan Eastman, Esq. The gun, identically the same, except the
stock, as when held by Peorawarrah, was carefully preserved by Mr.
Eastman, and after his death descended to his grandson, Jonathan
Eastman Pecker, in whose possession it still (1900) remains.

Mrs. I) u stiii's ^Escape. It is not definitely known, and, probably,
never will be, to what tribe of Indians the captor, or " master," of
Mrs. Dustin belonged. It is known, however, from the testimony of
Isaac Bradley, cited in the text, that, in the attack upon Haverhill,
in 1(395, " Merrimack Indians " were engaged. It is not improbable
that some of the same race may have had a hand in that of 1697.
The man might have been of the party of Kancamagus removed to
Maine or Canada; but at the instigation of Jesuit priests, and by
French promises of reward for English scalps and captives, may
have been induced to engage in hostile expeditions to the Merrimack
valley, visiting familiar haunts and combining the hunt with war.
On such an excursion the family might have accompanied the war-
rior, and been lodged in a place of security, like that to which Mrs.
Dustin and Mary Neff were brought, and where the warrior would
be, as it were, at home, as, indeed, this one was, if a Penacook.
According to Cotton Mather the man was a " praying Indian," after
French instruction — a fact not inconsistent with the supposition that
he was a Penacook, thus instructed. But, if, as Sewall says in his
Diary, " he had lived in the family of the Rev. Mr. Rowlandson, of
Lancaster, and told Mrs. Dustin that ' when he prayed the English
way, he thought it was good, but now he found the French way
better, ' the supposition that he was a Penacook seems untenable.
-It is commonly asserted that the heroine's return to Haverhill
was made by canoe. She must have used a boat in escaping from
the island; but there is no evidence that, when she reached the
bank of the Merrimack, she retained the frail skiff and sailed therein
all the way home, down the swollen and rapid river. The supposi-
tion seems reasonable, that she and her companions pursued their
homeward way along the trail of the upward journey, which had
not been hurried, and had doubtless left marks by which it could
be easily retraced. — Another part of the story, as frequently told

ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION.

is that she forgot, at first, to scalp the victims, and had to return
in the canoe, land again, and finish the ghastly work. This may be
true ; but it seems rather improbable that the strong-nerved, heroic
woman so far lost her head as to forget, even temporarily, that
important finishing stroke of her deed of vengeance — a stroke in
which she had taken pains to be specially instructed. — Mr. Chase,
in his History of Haverhill, says that the tomahawk "was some
years after lost in the woods near Mr. Dustin's " ; and that the
piece of linen cloth, in which the scalps were wrapped, " Mrs. Dustin
afterward divided among her daughters, and a part of it is still
[1861] preserved by some of their de-
scendants." The " gun continued in
possession of the male line to the year
1859, when it was presented to the
Dustin Monument Association, of Ha-
verhill, by Mrs. Luela H. Dustin, widow
of Thomas Dustin, of Henniker, N. H."
The Dustin Memorial. A granite
memorial of Hannah Dustin's exploit
was erected in 1874, on the island at
the mouth of the Contoocook. It stands
upon the part of the island lying east
of the Northern Railroad; this parcel
of land having been conveyed in trust
for the purpose, by John C. and Calvin
Gage, to the Rev. Nathaniel Bouton
and Eliphalet S. Nutter, of Concord,
and Robert B. Caverly, of Lowell. Dr.
Bouton, in his History of Concord, was
the first to suggest the idea of erecting
the monument ; the other two trustees
were especially efficient in giving the
idea practical effect. Six thousand dol-
lars were raised by subscription. The

statue and pedestal were designed by William Andrews, of Lowell,
sculptured in Concord granite, by Andrew Orsolini, James Murray,
and Charles H. Andrews. It was unveiled on the 17th of June, 1874.
with appropriate ceremonies, in the presence of many people. Ad-
dresses were made, among which were those of the Rev. Dr. Bouton,
John H. George, and Ex-Gov. Onslow Stearns, of Concord ; Charles
C. Coffin, of Boston ; Robert B. Caverly and I). O. Allen, of Lowell ;
George W. Nesmith and the Rev. William T. Savage, of Franklin ;
the Rev. Elias Nason, of Billerica ; Benjamin F. Prescott, of Epping ;

The Dustin Monument.

94 HISTORY OP CONCORD.

and Gen. Simon G. Griffin, of Keene. Governor James A. Weston
accepted the deed, in trust for the state. The legislature of a later
year made an appropriation for repairs about the monument, which
was expended under the care of Eliphalet S. Nutter.

Indian Bones. About the site of the fort on Sugar Ball, Indian
bones have been dug, and also found washed out and dropped at the
foot of the bluff. — In November, 1855, human bones were found
in digging a cellar for a dwelling west of Richard Bradley's
house. Dr. William Prescott thus describes them in a communication
printed in Bouton's History of Concord,^. 745 : "The whole number
[of skeletons] found thus far is nine, comprised within a space of
about ten by fifteen feet. Three of them were adults — one male of a
very large size, and two females ; the others were children and youth.
Considering the time that must have elapsed since they were interred,
the bones were in a tolerable state of preservation. Two of the
craniums were nearly perfect — that of the adult male, and one of the
adult females. They were each enshrouded in a thick envelope, con-
sisting of several thicknesses of pitch pine bark, the only exception
being what appeared to be a female between two infants, all being-
enclosed in one general envelope. The skeletons all lay upon the
right side, in a direction north and south, the face looking east ; the
lower limbs somewhat flexed at about right angles, and the elbows
completely flexed, the head resting upon the right hand."

CHAPTER II.

Events leading to English Occupation. — The Grant of the

Plantation of Penacook.

1623-1726.

While most of the events recorded in the preceding chapter were
occurring, others were taking place, in train of which came the per-
manent civilized occupation of Penacook. It will be recollected that
the first appearance of Passaconaway, as a definite historical character,
was in 1623, and in the neighborhood of the first English plantation
upon New Hampshire soil, at the mouth of the Piscataqua. On the
4th of March, 1629, King Charles I confirmed by charter, a grant
of lands made to a company the year before, by the Council of
Plymouth. 1 This charter made the grantees, "a corporation on the
place," under the name of " The Governor and Company of the
Massachusetts Bay in New England." The lands granted bore the
following description : "All that part of New England . . . which
lies and extends between a great river there, commonly called
Monomack, alias Merrimack, and a certain other river there called
Charles river . . . and also all and singular, those lands .

. lying within the space of three English miles, on the south part
of the said Charles river, or any and every part thereof ;
and also all those lands . . . which lie and be within the space
of three English miles northward of the said river called .
Merrimack, or to the northward of any and every part thereof ; and
all lands . . . lying within the limits aforesaid, north and south,
in latitude and breadth, and in length and longitude of and within
all the breadth aforesaid, throughout the mainland, from the Atlantic
and western sea and ocean on the east part, to the South sea on the
west part."

Before this, Captain John Mason, a member of the Council of
Plymouth, had obtained patents conveying territory, inland and along
the coast, in the neighborhood of the Merrimack and Piscataqua, but
had made no settlement under them. David Thompson's settlement
at Portsmouth, in 1623, and Edward Hilton's at Dover, of a date still
uncertain, were probably made with Mason's consent ; though Thomp-
son had a special patent of his own. But on the 7th of November,

1 See Council of Plymouth ; note at close of chapter.

96 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

1629, eight months after the date of the Massachusetts charter, the
Council of Plymouth issued a patent to Mason, conveying lands de-
scribed as follows : " All that part of the mainland in New England,
lying upon the seacoast, beginning from the middle part of Merrimack
river, and . . . thence to proceed northward along the seacoast
to Piscataqua river, and . . . up within said river — to the
farthest head thereof; and thence northwestward until threescore
miles be finished from the entrance of Pascataqua river ; also, through
Merrimack river to the farthest head thereof ; and so forward up into
the lands westward until threescore miles be finished ; and thence to
cross over land to the threescore miles' end, accounted from Pascat-
aqua river ; together with all islands and islets within five leagues'
distance of the premises."

This grant, Captain Mason named New Hampshire. His patent
was inconsistent with the Massachusetts charter, previously granted,
as to the Merrimack boundary line ; the description of which in both
was founded upon the misconception, that the river runs easterly the
whole distance from source to sea ; as it does run, from the almost
rectangular bend occurring in its longer southerly course. Out of
this misconception was to spring a mischievous controversy of the
lines, not to be settled for more than a hundred years, and then only
by the royal fiat ; — a controversy which was seriously to affect the
interests of the civilized settlement which was to occupy the wilder-
ness of ancient Penacook.

Massachusetts, enterprising and ambitious, found her territory too
much straitened by the literal signification of the terms defining
her northern river boundary, and early sought by liberal interpreta-
tion to expand her border. After the death of Mason, — a royalist
churchman, and no friend of hers, — her puritan authorities ventured
to take measures to push back her northerly line upon New Hamp-
shire. This, by 1639, contained the four settlements of Dover,
Portsmouth, Exeter, and Hampton. The last was claimed as a Mas-
sachusetts township, notwithstanding the protest of the agent of
Mason's estate. About that time, men were sent out to discover the
" head " of the Merrimack, as its " farthest part." They reported
that they "found some part of the Merrimack about Penkook,"--as
Governor Winthrop has it, — "to lie more northerly than forty-three
and a half." Soon the " head " was located at the junction of the
Pemigewasset and Winnepesaukee rivers. A pine, to be known as
" Endicott's Tree," standing three miles north of the confluence,
was selected to designate the point through which the northern boun-
dary line of Massachusetts passed, east to the Atlantic ocean and
west to the Pacific. By 16-42 Dover, Portsmouth, and Exeter had

EVENTS LEADING TO ENGLISH OCCUPATION. 07

come into union with Massachusetts, and under her jurisdiction ; a
result brought about not without much adroit maneuvering on the
part of the ambitious colony. Hampton had always been under that
jurisdiction; so that New Hampshire, being at that time comprised in
these four towns, which " were then of such extent as to contain all
the lands between the rivers Merrimack and Pascataqua," was merged
with Massachusetts, as part of her county of Norfork, in a union
which lasted forty years.

It may also be recalled here that a little later (1(344) Passacona-
way gave in his formal submission to the government of Massachu-
setts. In 1H42 the sachems, Passaquo and Saggahew, had, " with
the consent of Passaconaway," conveyed by deed k * the lands they
had at Pentucket," a township then recently settled, and which,
as Haverhill, was eighty years later, through some of its enterprising
inhabitants, to take an important hand in the settlement of Pena-
cook.

Robert Tul'ton, the surviving grandson and heir of Mason, having
reached majority and taken the surname of his grandfather, attempted,
in 1650, by a test suit, to recover his legacy of New Hampshire, but
with no success ; while Massachusetts, two years later, determined to
push back still farther her northern boundary line so as completely
to include the territory of Mason's grant. Accordingly, in the sum-
mer of 1652, Captain Edward Johnson, one of her commissioners,
with two surveyors, John Sherman and Jonathan Ince, and several
Indian guides, passed up the Merrimack through Penacookin a boat,
on a nineteen days* trip, to find the "head of the Merrimack." They
found it this time at the " Weirs," where the river " issues out of
the lake called Wmnapusseakit," as the surveyors reported. The
location was designated by a huge stone which lay in the bed of the
river, and which, inscribed with the name of Governor John Endi-
cott and the initials of the commissioners, Edward Johnson and
Simon Willard, was to become historic as "The Endicott Rock." A
straight line drawn through a point three miles due north from this
"farthest part" of the Merrimack, and extending east and west from
ocean to ocean, was decreed to be the northern boundary line of
Massachusetts in that quarter.

Penacook early attracted attention as a desirable place for civilized
settlement. In 1659 some men of Dover and Newbury, — towns
under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, in the Union, — made petition
to the General Court for " the grant of a tracke of land ... to
the quantity of twelve miles square " at " a place which is called
Pennecooke." The name of Richard Walderne, or Waldron (which
often occurs in the preceding chapter), headed the list of twenty-two

98 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

signatures 1 to the petition. The petitioners prayed, — in case the
grant were made, — "the liberty of three yeares to give in their res-
olution, wheather to proceed for the settliiige of a town or noe,
after vewinge it and considering fully about it;" and they further
prayed, in case they did proceed, " the grant of their freedom from
publique charge for the space of seaven yeares after the time of their
resolution given in to this honerd Corte ; " this, they added, to be
" for our encorragement to settle a plantation soe furre remote, as
knowinge that many will be our inconvenyences (for a long time),
which we must expeckt to meet with. . . ." The deputies, or
lower house, replied on the eighteenth of May of the same year to
the petition, by granting, on their part, " a plantation of eight miles
square, upon condition " that the petitioners " make report to the
Court, at the session to be held in October 1660, of their resolution
to p'secute the same . . . and to carry on the work of the said
place in all civill and eclesiasticall respects, and that within two
years then next ensuing, there be 20 families there settled ; also, that
they may have inutility from all publique charges (excepting in cases
extraordinary), for seavern yeares next ensuing the date hereof."
Whether the magistrates, or the upper house, consented or not, noth-
ing practical came of the movement. For on the 16th of May, 1662,
the deputies adopted the following preamble and order : " Upon
informacon that Penicooke is An Apt place for A Township, and in
consideration of the lord's great blessing upon the countrie in multi-
plying the inhabitants and plantations here ; and that Allmost All
such places are Allreadie taken up : Tis ordered by this Court, that
the lands at Peniecook be reserved for a plantation till so many of
such as have petecioned for lands there, or of others, shall present to
settle A plantation there." 2

The same year (1662), moreover, sundry inhabitants of Maiden
presented a petition for "a tract of land about four miles square, at a
place called Pennycooke, as an addition" to their township, whose
bounds were "exceeding streight." But the prayer was not granted,
and Penacook did not become Maiden-Addition. The next year,
1663, inhabitants of Chelmsford petitioned for the grant of a town-
ship at Penacook, but without success, in October of that year,
however, the petition of sundry inhabitants of Salem received favor
in the grant to them of "a plantation of six miles square at Penni-
cook, if getting twenty families on it within three years." The con-
ditions were not fulfilled ; but some of the petitioners did erect " a
trading-house at Pennicook," —being, possibly, the same as that of

1 See note at close of chapter; also, Bouton's Concord, 52.

2 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 33.

EVENTS LEADING TO ENGLISH OCCUPATION. 99

Waldron and Coffin, which stood in 1668 on or near a five hundred
acre tract, not devoid of historic interest.

These " five hundred acres of land in the wilderness at Penni-
cooke " comprised fine interval on the east side of the . Merrimack,
and an island close by, reputed to have been a favorite abode of Pas-
saconaway. In 1668 this land was surveyed and laid out, under a
right granted to Governor John Endicott eleven years before. The
title having been sold by Governor Endicott to John Hull, the weal-
thy mint-master of Massachusetts, and the latter dying, his daughter
Hannah, and her husband, Samuel Sewell, the inflexible but manly
judge in the days of witchcraft, petitioned the General Court, in
1695, that " this tract might be confirmed to them," and the prayer
was granted. 1 Sewall's Farm was the first permanent grant of land
in Penacook made by Massachusetts.

The confirmation of the Endicott grant to Judge Sewall, in 1695,
occurred sixteen years after New Hampshire was detached from
Massachusetts, and made a royal province. For upon the restoration
of the Stuarts, and the accession of Charles II to the throne of Eng-
land, in 1660, Robert Tufton Mason had urged his claim anew, till
Massachusetts, in 1677, was compelled to disclaim before the king in
council "all title to the lands claimed by Robert Mason, and to the
jurisdiction beyond three miles northward of the river Merrimack, to
follow the course of the river as far as it extended.' 1 It was found
by the chief justices of the king's bench that, while " the four towns
of Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter, and Hampton were out of the bounds
of Massachusetts," Mason had no "right of government within the
soil he claimed." The rinding was approved in 1677 by the king in
council. Moreover, it being admitted that Mason's title to the lands
" could be tried only on the place, — there being no court in England
that had cognizance of it, — it became necessary to the establishment
of that title, that a new jurisdiction should be erected, in which the
king might direct the mode of trial and appeal at his pleasure." 2
Accordingly, on the 18th of September, 1679, a * k commission passed
the great seal for the government of New Hampshire," inhibiting and
restraining " the jurisdiction exercised by the colony of Massachu-
setts over " the four towns, " and all other lands extending from
three miles to the northward of the river Merrimack, and of any and
every part thereof, to the province of Maine ;" and constituting "a
president and council to govern the province. " 2

This commission, while restraining the jurisdiction of Massachu-
setts over certain lands, did not settle the divisional line between that

1 See N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 62-3-5-7.

2 Farmer's Belknap, 88.

100 . HISTORY OF CONCORD.

colony and the new province, nor curtail Mason's claim, which ex-
tended sixty miles inland from the sea. It did not declare that
Massachusetts might hold, to the exclusion of Mason or anybody else,
all the lands to the southward of a line " three miles to the north-
ward*' of "any part " of the Merrimack, but merely inhibited the
jurisdiction hitherto exercised by her over those extending from that
line to Maine. Massachusetts, however, acted on the assumption
that the line was a settled divisional one ; and that a prohibited juris-
diction over specified lands somehow implied a permitted jurisdiction
over lands not specified. The description of the line, given in the
commission, was, to be sure, that of the charter of Massachusetts, but
this had been issued in total ignorance of the true course of the
Merrimack. Hence she was obliged, though to the utter confusion
of the points of the compass, to construe the term " northward " as
identical with eastward, when applied to two thirds of the river's
course. But such a liberal, not to say audacious, interpretation of
the terms of her charter was deemed necessary, since otherwise, as
has been before suggested, she would be nudged out of coveted terri-
tory by the river's sharp elbow. And to tins construction of her
charter line, Massachusetts held steadfastly ; her claim, in plain and
consistent description, covering all the lands south and west of a line,
beginning at a point three miles north of the Merrimack, thence run-
ning inland westerly and northerly, at the same distance from the
river, and on its right, as one ascends the stream, to the confluence
of the Winnepesaukee and Pemigewasset rivers, thence north three
miles to Endicott's Tree, thence running, bent at right angles, indefi-
nitely west. For it should here be observed that she had never
insisted upon her claim that Endicott Rock marked the head of the
Merrimack, nor, for years, upon her other claim to a line running
east from Endicott's Tree to the Atlantic ocean. Of the lands, south-
ward and westward of the line claimed, and as far as the Connecti-
cut river, she made grants at pleasure, until the settlement of the
lines in 1740. Sewall's Farm, in the wilds of Penacook, belonged
to those lands, lying, as it did, eastward — or northward as Massa-
chusetts called it — of the Merrimack, and within the distance of
three miles therefrom.

( )ne purpose of erecting New Hampshire into a royal province was,
as has been seen, to facilitate the establishment of Mason's title to
the lands. In this respect, the scheme failed as " to the inhabited
part of the province." Accordingly, in 1680, to lay a foundation for
realizing his claim to the waste lands, Mason, by deed, with a reser-
vation " to himself and his heirs, of the yearly rent of ten shillings,
confirmed a purchase " made fc * from the Indians,"- —probably, through

EVENTS LEADING TO ENGLISH OCCUPATION. 101

Wonolancet, still living, — " by Jonathan Tyng and nineteen others."
This " Million-Acre-Purchase," as it was called, embraced "a tract
of land on both sides of the river Merrimack, six miles in breadth,
from Souhegan river to Winnepiseogee lake." 1 This speculative
enterprise entirely disregarded Sewall's five hundred acre grant ; but
it never proved of any practical consequence, either to Mason or the
purchasers.

No further movements to procure the granting of the soil of Pena-
cook, either for speculation or settlement, appear to have been made
till 1714, after the Peace of Utrecht, when Salem people again peti-
tioned the government of Massachusetts, that " the grant of a planta-
tion of six miles square at Penacook," made in 1663 — fifty-one years
before — might " be confirmed to them." They alleged, in valid
excuse for not having fulfilled the conditions of the former grant,
that they "had been embarrassed by Indian wars": and, indeed,
such wars, and bloody ones, had raged for nearly half of the years
intervening between the petitions. This movement was, however,
ineffectual.

New Hampshire and Massachusetts had now for some years had a
single governor, but each its lieutenant-governor. The boundary
lines, and Mason's claim — which, by sale, had temporarily become
Allen's — were still in dispute, and both governments were coy in
making grants. Futile attempts had been made at sundry times to
settle the line controversy, In 1719, under the administration of
Governor Samuel Shute and Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth,
New Hampshire proposed to Massachusetts the establishment of a
line, beginning at a point three miles north of the mouth of the Mer-
rimack, and thence running due west to the western boundary of
that province. The proposition was rejected by Massachusetts ;
whereupon Henry Newman, the New Hampshire agent in England,
was instructed to solicit approval of it from the lords of trade.

The same year (1719) sixteen families of Scotch Presbyterians
made a settlement of Nuffield, " a tract of good land above Haver-
hill." 2 They had arrived the year before in Boston, with many
others, from the north of Ireland, where a colony of their race, the
result of migrations from Scotland, had existed since 1609. This
accession of Scotch-Irish inhabitants was unexpected, but valuable,
though for a time misappreciated, there being a strong prejudice
against the Irish proper, with whom the new-comers were confounded.
This planting of Nuffield, or Londonderry, and the presence of this
new and vigorous element of population, stimulated the settlement
of other places " on the waste lands." Indeed, the adventurous men

1 Farmer's Belknap, 116. 2 Farmer's Belknap, 192, 2.

102 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

of Nutfield soon began to look for more room, as their numbers
swelled by fresh immigration, and they cast their eyes northward,
with shrewd discernment, even to Penacook.

But some of the sagacious and enterprising men of Essex county,
in Massachusetts, notably of the towns of Andover, Bradford, and
Haverhill, had also spied out the land in the same quarter. On the
31st day of May, 1721, one hundred and nineteen 1 of these joined in
a petition to Governor Shute and " to the Honerable, the Council and
House of Representatives in General Court assembled," setting forth,
in substance, that " being straitened for accommodations for them-
selves and their posterity," they had " espied a tract of land situate
on the river Merrymake (the great river of the said country), where-
on they " were " desirous to make a settlement and form a town."
They prayed that there might be granted them "... a tract of
land for a township, which " lay " at the lower end of Penniecook : to
begin three miles to the eastward of Merrimake river, at the place
nearest the mouth of Conduncook (Contoocook), to extend to Merri-
make river, and over it, to and up Conduncook river, eight miles;
thence to run southerly seven miles parallel with Merrimake river ;
and at the end of the said seven miles, to run directly to the mouth
of Smu'oot river ; and then up Suncoot river till it " came " to the
distance of three miles from Merrimake river ; and then on a straight
line to the first mentioned bound : " the tract being " computed to
contain . . . about eight miles square." 2

The petition having been received and considered, a committee,
consisting of Captain John Shipley, Colonel Joseph Buckminster,
and Mr. Joseph Winslow, was appointed " to take exact survey of
the land on each side of the Merrimack, between the rivers Suncook
and Cuntacook, and lay the same into two townships, if the land be
capable thereof." 3 The committee appointed William Ward and
John Jones to make the survey ; and this they did in May, 1722.
They found the upper portion to comprise 69,500 acres, of which
2,000 were interval. The south line, crossing the Merrimack at its
junction with ShooBrook (Soucook), measured eleven miles ; or 1,530
rods on the east side and 1,990 on the west. The north line, cross-
ing the Merrimack at or near the mouth of the Contoocook, 1,450
rods east, followed the course of the Contoocook west. The line,
joining the eastern termini of these lines, was ten miles ; that drawn
from the western terminus of the south line till it struck the Contoo-
cook was nine miles and fifty rods. 4 The committee reported to the

1 See note at close of chapter; also, Bouton's, Concord, 54.

2 Bouton's, Concord, 53-4.

3 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 34.

4 Bouton's, Concord, 55.

the <;i;ant of the plantation of penacook. 103

General Court on the loth of June, 1722, the result of the survey of
the land "between the Suncook and Cuntacook," with the conclusion
that the tract contained " a great quantity of waste land, and some
good ; and that the same " might " be accommodable for settling a
township, if laid out large enough." * The surveyors had also re-
ported that, in performing their " service, they observed a new line
marked upon several trees, particularly on one corner tree marked
with the letter N, — and several other trees, — which tree " was " not
more than one mile and a half from Merrimack river ; and discours-
ing witli some Irish people," the latter " declared that they had a
grant, from the government of New-Hampshire, of the land home to
the Merrimack river, from Amoskeag falls, and that they were re-
solved to make a speedy settlement there." Thereupon, on the same
15th of June, 1722, the house, startled by this intelligence, ordered
a committee of three forthwith to inquire of the governor " whether
the government of New-Hampshire have granted any such tract of
land, that this government may prevent any such encroachment on
the lands and properties of this province." In the confusion inci-
dent to the non-settlement of the boundary line, the governments of
the two provinces were beginning to watch each other more and more
narrowly. Massachusetts had reason, in this connection, to keep an
open eye upon the lively " Irish people," to whose settlement at Nut-
field she had refused patronage, by declining to confirm to them her
previous grant of lands of their own selection, " at the eastward," on
the ground that their present location was not within her jurisdic-
tion. But New Hampshire, while at first withholding " a grant in
the king's name," had given "them a protection," 2 and "they re-
membered with much gratitude the friendly offices of Lieutenant-
governor Wentworth." 3 The government which had protected the
plantation of Xutfield, and had made, — or was just about to make,—
of it the town of Londonderry, might favor these " Irish people " in
other attempts at settlement, and do so, too, without squeamish re-
gard to that line, " three miles to the northward of the Merrimack,"
so pertinaciously insisted upon. Indeed, no such regard had been
shown in the previous incorporation of Chester in that chestnut
region.

The petition of 1721, however, did not receive the assent of the
General Court for four years, though a committee of the petitioners,
consisting of Benjamin Stevens, Andrew Mitchell, David Kimball,
Ebenezer Eastman, John Osgood, and Moses Day, perseveringly reit-
erated and enforced its prayer in earnest requests. The house re-

i N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 35.

2 Farmer's Belknap, 194.

3 Whiton's New Hampshire, 66.

104 HISTORY OF COKCOE.D.

sponded promptly and steadily in favorable action, but the council
failed to concur. Thus, in December, 1723, the house, on its part,
voted the grant of a township, according to the survey of Messrs.
Ward and Jones, and similar action was taken the next year. Why
the council delayed concurrence is not known; though, possibly, the
preoccupation of the government with Lovewell's Indian war, which
was then raging, and did not cease till 1725, may have been one
cause, while another may have existed in the critical condition of the
line question, which New Hampshire had referred to the king, and
to meet which, it may have been thought, required, just then, special
prudence on the part of Massashusetts in the disposal of territory.
But the men of Essex county did not give over in face of procrasti-
nating legislation, and with Scotch-Irish adventurers for their sturdy
rivals. This rivalry finds illustration of its character and spirit in
the brief journal of an expedition made to " Pennecook," in the
spring of 1723, by Captain James File and Lieutenant Stephen
Barker, — the latter a petitioner of 1721, — with thirty men. The
party having " moved from Andover," on the 19th of March, " came,"
on the fourth day out, " to Pennecook Plains, at the Intervale lands,
about 11 of the clock ; " having " lodged " the three preceding nights,
respectively, at ••Nuffield, Amiskege, and Suncook." The record
thence sent home under date of March 22d, to Benjamin Stevens,
one of the original petitioners, and of their committee of six already
mentioned, proceeds in this wise :

" There we found five of those men which came from N. Ireland.
Mr. Houston was one of them. They came to us, and we chose Cap-
tain Frie to discourse them with 4 men. They say they have a grant
of this Penacook on both sides of the river. They call us rebbells,
and command us to discharge the place, both in the King's name and
in the Province's ; and if we don't in a fortnight, they will gitt us
off. We therefore desire you, .Justice Stevens, with the committee,
to send us word whether we have any encouragement to stay, or else
to draw off. But Captain File's courage is so that he will stay allone
rather than let them userpers drive us off." 1

There were, however, more words than blows on the Merrimack
at that time : but the "usurpers" from " North Ireland," though they
did not "get" the Massachusetts "rebels off," still held their ground ;
for, by 1724, they had built a fort upon the interval on the east side
of the river, within eighty rods of Sewall's Farm, 2 with a view to per-
manent occupation. It was at that " Irish Fort," so called, that Col-
onel Tyng, at the head of a scouting party bound for Lake Winnepe-

1 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV. 36.

2 See Wainwright's Journal in next chapter.

THE GRANT OF THE PLANTATION OF PEXACOOK. 105

saukee, in pursuit of Indians, quartered on the 5th and 6th of ApriJ,
1725, " the snow being so thick upon the bushes that " the compan} r
••could not travel without injuring their provisions." 1 From that
structure, also, the settlement east of the river — the modern East
Concord — was long called "The Fort."

On the 17th of June, 1725, the petitioners, by their committee of
six, headed by Benjamin Stevens, renewed their prayer for the "grant
of a tract of land at Pennycook, with resolutions fully inclined to
make a settlement there, which they" conceived, "under the divine
protection, they " were " able to go on and through with." They
earnestly besought the " Great and General Court," that, though
their former petitions had not met with concurrent favor, they
" would please to take the premises again into " their " wise and
serious consideration." They declared that, " as the building of a
fort there" would •• undoubtedly be a great security within and on
Merrimack river . ," the "petitioners" were "still willing

to build and maintain it as afore proposed, at their own cost." They
also suggested to their " Honnours, , ' as a stimulus to prompt action,
that " many applications " had " been made to the government of
New Hampshire for a grant of the said land, [of] which, though it
be the undoubted right and property of "* Massachusetts, "yet it"
was " highly probable that a parcel of Irish people " would " obtain a
grant . . . unless some speedy care be taken by " the
•• Court to prevent it. If that government should once make them a
grant, though . . . without right, as in the case of Nuffield, yett
it would be a thing attended with too much difficulty to pretend
to root them out if they should once gett foothold there." There-
fore, they prayed that the former " vote passed by the Honerable
House" might "be revived, or that they" might "have a grant of
the land on such other terms and conditions as to the wisdom of the
Court should seem best." 2

The house, on the 17th of December, revived its former vote, but
the council decided to postpone the matter till the next session in
May, 1726. By message, the council was requested to reconsider its
vote of postponement, and to " pass now " upon the vote " of the
House, by concurring or non-concurring ; " inasmuch as there was " a
great probability that the lands " would be " settled by others than
the inhabitants " of Massachusetts, " before the next May session, as
it happened in the case of Nuffield, unless the Court" should "now
take effectual order for preventing such unjust settlements.** 2

After some delay, a joint committee appointed to consider the sub-

1 Tyng's Journal, Mass. Archives; also, Potter's Manchester, 167.

2 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 39; also, Bouton's Concord, 55-6.

10(3 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ject of the petition, made a report, by Nathaniel Byfield, recommend-
ing that " part of the lands petitioned for by Benjamin Stevens and
company " be granted to them " for a township," and assigning
bounds, conditions, and orders as to settlement. The report was
accepted by the council, concurred in by the house, and approved by
Lieutenant-Governor William Dummer.

So, at last, on the 17th of January, 1725-'26, 1 the Plantation of
Penacook came to exist under the legislative sanction of the province
of Massachusetts Bay.

Notes.

The Plymouth Company. This was one of the two corporations, to
which, early in the seventeenth century, King James I of England
granted charters for settling portions of the North American coast.
The king granted to the Plymouth company the coast from Long
Island to Nova Scotia, extending indefinitely westward, between
straight lines having those points as eastern termini. The company,
in turn, could and did grant its lands to others for the purposes of
settlement.

The Dover and Newbury Petition. Besides Richard Walderne,
other prominent names upon the petition were Peter Coffin, Edward
Woodman, John Pike, Abraham Toppan, and Nathaniel Weare.

The Petitioners of 17,11 . These, as seen in the text, renewed
their petition in 1725, by a committee. Most of their names are
found in the list of admitted settlers given in connection with the
next chapter.

Pate of Plantation of Penacook. According to " old style," under
which the year commenced March 25th, the Plantation of Penacook
was established in January, 1725; but according to "new style," in
January, 172(3. The former date has generally been taken for the
natal day of the Plantation, and is inscribed upon the city seal.

1 See note at close of chapter.

CHAPTER III.

The Plantation of Penacook. — Its Transition to the

Township of Rumford.

1726-1734.

The committee's report, mentioned in the preceding chapter, as
adopted by the legislative authorities of Massachusetts, January 17,
1726, served as letters-patent for the plantation or incipient township
of Penacook. It ''assigned and set apart" territory prescribed "to
contain seven miles square, and to begin where Contoocook river
falls into Merrimack, and thence to extend upon a course east seven-
teen degrees north, three miles, and upon a course west seventeen
degrees south, four miles, to be the northerly bounds of the said
township; and from the extreme parts of that line, to be set off:
southerly at right angles, until seven miles shall be accomplished
from the said north bounds."

It "ordered that the Hon. William Tailer, Esq., Elisha Cooke,
Esq., Spencer Phipps, Esq., William Dudley, Esq., John Wain-
wright, Esq., Capt. John Shipley, Mr. John Saunders, Eleazer Tyng,
Esq., and Mr. Joseph Wilder, be a committee to take special care
that the following rules and conditions be punctually observed and
kept: . . . That the . . . land be divided into

one hundred and three equal . . . shares, as to quantity and
quality, and that one hundred persons or families be admitted, — such
only as, in the judgment of the committee shall be well able to pur-
sue and bring to pass their several settlements . . . within
three years, at farthest, from the first day of June next ;
that each . . . intended settler, to whom a lot . . . shall
be assigned, shall pay into the hands of the Committee, for the use
of the Province, at the time of drawing his lot, the sum of five
pounds, and be obliged to build a good dwelling-house, . . . and
also break up and sufficiently fence in six acres of land for " his
" home lot, within the time aforesaid ; that the first fifty settlements
shall be begun and perfected upon the eastern side of said river
Merrimack, and the houses erected on their home [house] lots, not
above twenty rods, the one from the other, — where the land will pos-
sibly admit thereof, — in the most regular and defensible manner, the
committee . . . can project and order — the home lots on each

108 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

side of the river, to be alike subjected unto the above-mentioned con-
ditions ; that a convenient house for the public worship of God be
completely finished within the term aforesaid ; that there shall be
reserved, allotted, and laid out to the first minister that shall be law-
fully settled among them, one full . . . share . . . of the
aforesaid tract of land : his house lot to be ...

adjoining the land whereon the meeting-house shall stand ; also one
other . . . share . . . for the use of the school forever, and
one other ministerial lot, of equal value with the rest — the home
lot appertaining thereto, affixed near the meeting-house." The report
further provided, " that, . . . when . . . there shall be
one hundred persons accepted ... by the committee,
it shall be lawful ... to notify the undertakers to meet at
some convenient time and place ; who, when assembled, shall make
such necessary rules and orders as to them shall be thought most
conducible for carrying forward and effecting the aforesaid settle-
ment— . . . three fourths ... of the persons present
consenting — and two or more of the committee being
present at such meeting, who shall enter into a fair book, to be kept
for such purpose, all rules, orders, and directions agreed on as afore-
said ; the whole charge of the committee to be paid by the
settlers;" and, finally, "that when" the settlers "shall have per-
formed the conditions above expressed, provided it be within the
space of three years, as before limited, then the committee, for and in
behalf of this Court, may execute good and sufficient deeds . .
to all such settlers, . . . with a saving of all or any former
grant or grants."

Such were the provisions made by the General Court of Massachu-
setts, for the planting of Penacook, " in a good, regular, and defensi-
ble manner." These provisions were carried out, with such excep-
tions as will be noted. The Court's Committee of Nine, with Will-
iam Tailer for its president, and John Wainwright for its clerk,
faithfully and strictly watched over the settlement during its early
years ; and it now comes in order to trace, mainly from the records
of that committee and those of the proprietors, the evolution of the
town. 1

The petitioners had been waiting four years not without appre-
hension that the lands at Penacook might fall into the hands of the
" Irish People," or those of others. The court's committee met on the
18th of January, 172(3, — next day after the adoption of the report
making the grant, — and, having organized, made arrangements for
holding a meeting on the second day of February, " at the house of

1 The direct citations from the records will be carefully denoted by quotation marks.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 109

Ebenezer Eastman, inn-holder, in Haverhill," to " treat with .
the petitioners . . . for a tract of land at PennyCook." Dur-
ing the four days' session of the meeting accordingly held, one hun-
dred persons were admitted as settlers, after the most careful inquiry
" as to their character and their ability to fulfil the conditions." 1
In this examination, the committee summoned officially "some of the
principal inhabitants of the towns, to which the generality of the
petitioners belonged, to give information of the circumstances of v
those desirous of admission, so that only such might be selected " as "
should " be thought most suitable for bringing forward the intended
settlement."' The enrolment was completed on Saturday, the 5th of
February, 17 25-' 26, and each person thus admitted "paid twenty
shillings to the chairman to defray the charges of the committee." 2

At once, sixty-eight of the admitted settlers, wishing to save the
trouble and expense of a journey of the committee to and from Bos-
ton, and also being earnest for " the greatest expedition v in their
enterprise, made written request to the committee to notify " the
community " to appear at the house of Ebenezer Eastman, on the
next Monday, February 7th, "to make . . . rules and orders
most conducible for bringing forward " the intended settle-
ment. At the meeting held in accordance with the request, it was
" agreed and ordered," that a settler, who should " fail of plowing,
fencing, or clearing one acre of land within twelve months from the
first day of June next," should " forfeit to the community the sum
of five pounds ; " that, in case of such failure for two years, and of
" having a sufficiency of timber felled, hauled, and adapted for build-
ing a house within six months after the direction of the committee of
the general court," a forfeiture of " ten pounds " should ensue ; that
if any should fail " to comply with the directions enjoined him '"
, for " two years and a half from the first day of June next,"
he should forfeit his "lot," which should be assigned to any other
person, selected by the settlers, with the consent of the court's com-
mittee ; and that no sale " of any lot " should " be made without the
consent of the community," and that any attempted sale in violation
of the order should be " void " and work forfeiture. This last pro-
vision had strong reference to the Scotch-Irish immigrants with whom
it was then thought not desirable to have association. The restric-
tion had, at the outset, been urged upon the committee, in a letter,
by Reverend Christopher Toppan of Newbury, a son and a nephew of
whom became grantees.

On the same occasion, the court's committee provided for " two

1 Bouton's Concord, 59.

2 See list of admitted settlers at close of chapter.

110 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

surveyors and four chainmen to attend upon the next adjournment,"
for allotting the land into one hundred and three equal shares. An
adjournment was taken to the 5th of April, when the committee were
to "meet at the house of Colonel Tyng. 1 in Dunstable, in order to
proceed to PennyCook, to lay out the land in lots.*' Colonel Tyng
was also to be requested " to prepare fifteen days' provisions for
twenty men " ; and " the intended settlers " were to be " notified that
each of them " was " expected and directed to pay forty shillings "
towards " defraying the charge of the committee — the money to lie
ready at Colonel Tyng's on or before the 5th day of April." De-
layed, however, by engagements in the General Court, the committee
could not proceed, at the time indicated, to allot the lands at Pena-
cook, and this duty was deferred till the second Tuesday of May.

Meanwhile the authorities of New Hampshire had been awake to
these movements of Massachusetts. On the 23d of February, 1726,
a month after the passage of the " order of the General Court for the
opening of a new town at Pennicook," Lieutenant-Governor Went-
worth, 1 of New Hampshire, addressed a letter to Lieutenant-Gover-
nor Dummer, 1 of Massachusetts, " complaining of the order, and sug-
gesting that Pennicook " was " within the Province of New Hamp-
shire. " 2 The communication having been laid before the council,
the opinion was expressed, on the 5th of March, that the suggestion
of encroachment " on the bounds of New Hampshire " was " alto-
gether groundless ; for the committee impowered to lay out the town-
ship," could " not by that vote extend, above three miles northerly
from the river Merrimack, or any part thereof, for the north bounds
of the said township."" 3 The next month, April 11, 1720, Lieuten-
ant-Governor Wentworth sounded a warning note, in a message to
the General Assembly, and in the following earnest words : "The
Massachusetts are daily encroaching on us. A late instance we
have, in voting a township should be erected and settled at Penny-
cook, which will certainly be in the very bowels of this Province, and
which will take in the most valuable part of our lands. I would,
therefore, recommend this matter to your mature consideration. . . .
I have lately represented this affair to the Lords Commissioners for
Trade and Plantations, and have transmitted the best and exactest
draught of this Province, Merrimack river, and situation of Penni-
cook, to their Lordships, praying their favor in obtaining a settlement
of the lines, [and] giving instances wherein it highly concerns the
interest of the Crown."

On the last day of April the house and council concurred in order-

1 See note at close of chapter.

= N.H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 43-4.

»7bid., 44-5.

THE PLANTATION' OF PENACOOK. Ill

ing instructions to Mr. Henry Newman, agent in London, " to prose-
cute . . . speedy settlement of the lines," inasmuch as Massa-
chusetts had " lately disposed of considerable tracts of land
reasonably supposed to be within the bounds of New Hampshire,
and " was " about granting more of said lands, which " was " a very
great grievance. " 1 The council, on the 10th of May, hearing " that
sundry persons " were " going or gone to lay out and take possession
of and settle upon some of His Majesty's lands ... at or near
a place called Pennecook, without the consent " of the New Hamp-
shire " government," 1 pronounced the act to be "not only unneigh-
borly, but unjustifiable, and " having " a tenddency to the destroying
of the mast trees fit for His Majesty's service, that " might " be grow-
ing thereon." Accordingly, it was ordered that " Messrs. Nathaniel
Weare, Theodore Atkinson, and Richard Waldron, jr., repair imme-
diately to Pennecook, and forewarn any persons whom they " might
"find there " against " laying out, taking possession of, or settling"
on, the lands at or near that place, " or presuming to appropriate any
other of His Majesty's lands within '' the province of New Hamp-
shire, " till they " should " have the countenance and grant of " the
government of that province, " for so doing ;" and " to direct them,
in an amicable way, forthwith to withdraw — from the land, and their
pretensions to it by virtue of the . . . vote of the General
Assembly of Massachusetts." 2

The same day on which this action was taken by the New Hamp-
shire authorities, the committee of the General Court of Massachu-
setts " met at the house of Ebenezer Eastman," in Haverhill, with the
purpose of proceeding thence to Penacook, " to lay out there a new
township of seven miles square, and on each side of the Merrimack
river." 3 After completing preliminary arrangements, six of the nine
members, — Messrs. William Tailer, John Wainwright, John Shipley,
Eleazer Tyng, John Sanders and Joseph Wilder, — on Thursday,
May 12th, set out upon "their journey to PennyCook, attended by
twenty-six persons, including the surveyors, chalnmen, and such of
the intended settlers as were disposed to take a view of the lands."
Starting early in the morning, the company arrived, about noon " at
Nuffield alias Londonderry," where they " refreshed themselves and
horses with " their own provisions at the house of one John Barr,
an Irish tavern-keeper, but had nothing of him but small beer ; the
expenses ... at the house " being " 5 shillings." Thence their
course led them, for three or four hours, along " a cart path " which

1 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. IV, 220.
"-Ibid, 11, 12.

3 Journal of Jno. Wainwright (Bouton's Concord, 64). The quoted portions of the suc-
ceeding narrative of the committee's journey and proceedings are from that journal.

112 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

afforded "very indifferent travelling," and involved the fording of
" two brooks . . . called Great and Little, which," proceeding
" from Great MassaBeseek and Little MassaBeseck Ponds, — empty
themselves into the Merrimack." Having " arrived at a place called
Amoskeeg Falls,' 1 they " there encamped that night." There, too,
they k ' found several Irish people catching fish which that place "
afforded "in great abundance." Proceeding "on" their "journey," the
next morning, over " very hilly and mountainous land," they " passed "
about eight o'clock " by a Fall, in Merrimack river, called Onnahook-
line, 1 from a hill of the same name." Abont an hour later they
"forded a pretty deep brook — and soon after came upon a large tract
of intervale land, joining to Suncook river." This they forded in
course of the forenoon, finding it " a rapped stream "' with " many
loose stones of some considerable bigness in it, making it difficult to
pass." One of the " men going over, having a heavy load on his
horse, was thrown off into the river and lost " one of the bags of pro-
visions " —there being " no time to look after it." Another of their
" men fell into the river," but without serious consequence. Finding-
there " Benjamin Niccols and Ebenezer Virgin, — two intended set-
tlers," whom " Colonel Tyng " had " sent up ahead with some stores,"
the journeyers, early in the afternoon, " passed PennyCook river,—
alias Shew Brook, or SowCook, — pretty deep and very rocky " and
into which "one of" their "men tumbled. A short time after," they
reached " PennyCook Falls, 2 . . . and then," steering their
course north, "travelled over a large pitch pine plain, (indifferent
land), three miles at least in length, . . . and, about five o'clock
afternoon, arrived at PennyCook, and encamped on a piece of inter-
vale land, or plain, called Sugar Ball Plain ; " having taken " its
name from a very high head, or hill, called Sugar Ball Hill, whereon
was the first Indian fort, — as " they " were informed, — which the
Indians in old times built to defend themselves from the Maquois
and others, their enemies. This Sugar Ball plain," they found to be
" a pretty large tract of land, encompassed on all parts,— ' except
" where the river runs round it, — with very high and mountainous
land, as steep as the roof of house "; and that " it " was " altogether
impracticable for a team, or, indeed, a horse cart, to get on the plain,
the land" was "so mountainous round it; and there'' was "no
spring on it, as " they " could find." At this point, the record adds :
" Just as we were making up our camp, there came up a smart thun-
der shower, and we had enough to do to save our bread from the
rain."

Early on the morning of May 14th the committee "got together

1 Hooksett. - Garvin's.

THE PLANTATION OF l'ENACOOK. 113

the surveyors and chainmen, and set them to survey the township
according to the General Court's order. Mr. Jonas Houghton, Sur-
veyor," and " Jonathan Shipley, Josiah Cop, Moses Hazzen, and Ben-
jamin Niccolls, chainmen, being first sworn truly and faithfully to
discharge their duty and trust in taking the survey, were sent to run
the line of the township, according to the Court's grant ; to begin on
the east side of the river, where the Contoocook falls into the Merri-
mack. Mr. Josiah Bacheldor, Surveyor " and " Ens. John Chandler
and " another, " chainmen, being first duly sworn, were appointed to
survey the intervale on the east side of the river ; and Mr. Richard
Hazzen, Junr, Surveyor," with John Ayer and John Sanders, Jr.,
chainmen, to survey the interval on the west side of the Merrimack.
To the service designated the parties had severally proceeded when
about noon, " Messrs. Nathaniel Weare, Richard Waldron, Jr., and
Theodore Atkinson, a committee appointed by the Lieut Governor
and Council of New-Hampshire, came up to camp, — being attended
by about half a score of Irishmen, who kept some distance from the
camp." These gentlemen " acquainted us," says the record, " that
the Government of New-Hampshire, being informed of our business
here, had sent them to desire us that we would not proceed in appro-
priating these lands to any private or particular persons, for they lay
in their government ; and our government's making a grant might be
attended with very ill consequences to the settlers when it appeared
the lands fell in New-Hampshire's government ; — and then they de-
livered a copy of an order passed by their Honours the Lieut. Gov-
ernor and Council of New-Hampshire, respecting the settling of the
land at PennyCook. . . . We made them answer, that the gov-
ernment of Massachusetts Bay had sent us to lay the lands here into
a township ; that they had made a grant of it to some particular
men, and that we should proceed to do the business we were come
upon, and made no doubt but our government would be always
ready to support and justify their own grants ; and that it was the
business of the public, and not ours, to engage in . . . to deter-
mine any controversy about the lands. We sent our salutes to the
Lieut. Governor of New-Hampshire, and the gentlemen took their
leave of us, and went homeward this afternoon. The surveyors and
chainmen returned to us in safety about sundown."

The next day, May 15th, being the Sabbath, — " fair and cool,"-
the chaplain of the party, Mr. Enoch Coffin, a grantee, " performed
divine service both parts of the day." 1 And so, on that plain just
awakening to vernal beauty beneath the skies of May, those pioneers
in an enterprise germinant with promise of good, sought the divine

1 See note at close of chapter.

114 HISTORY OF CONCOED.

favor by joining in that initial act of public worship, which, by repe-
tition, should bless, in all coming years, the life and growth of plan-
tation, town, and city.

In course of the next three days the work of running the lines and
surveying the interval on both sides of the river was completed.
Mr. Batchelder, in surveying on the east side, found that " Gov.
Endicott's grant of five hundred acres — , claimed by the Honerable
Judge Sewall, . . . consisted principally of interval land : and
that the grant extended down the river within eighty poles of the
place where the Irish people had lately built a fort ; so that there
remained but a small quantity of interval, which would accommodate
not half a score [of] home lots." Accordingly no lots were "laid
out on that side of the river." On the west side, however, " Mr.
Hazen and company " succeeded, with some difficulty, in laying out
" the home lots " agreeably to the General Court's order, by locating
them " on the Great Interval over against Sugar Ball Plain, and the
land next adjoining ; having made a beginning on the

adjoining upland." But they " found it impracticable, if not impos-
sible, to lay out the land there into six acre lots so as to be fenced
and broken up within three years ; the contents being too large,
wholly to be laid out there."

So the work was accomplished during the bright days of May —
for the weather was " fair," " fair and cool," " fair and pleasant,"
" fine and clear," as Wainwright's lively record duly noted ; while
the surveyors, chainmen, and companions, as they threaded the vir-
gin growths of the wilderness, found some excitement in coming
upon an occasional " beaver " or " hedgehog," or " divers rattle-
snakes " that "were killed daily ;-- but," in the fervent language of
the journal, " thanks be to God, nobody received any harm from
them." The sum of two hundred pounds defrayed the charges in-
curred in this important preliminary to the civilized occupation of
Penacook.

The committee made report, the next month, to the General Court
of Massachusetts, setting forth that, " on the east side of the Merri-
mack," they found " little or no water, [and] the land near the river
extremely mountainous, and almost impassable, and very unfit for
and incapable of receiving fifty families, as the Court" had "ordered;
more especially," as, " near the center of the town, on the east side
of the river Merrimack, the Honorable Samuel Sewall, Esq.," had " a
farm of five hundred acres of good land formerly . . . laid out
to Gov. Endicott : " and " that, therefore, . . . one hundred and
three lots of land " had been " laid out for settlements, on the west
side, contiguous to each other, regularly and in a defensible manner

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 115

." Ill conclusion the committee humbly offered, that
" inasmuch as the generality of the land " did not answer " the
grantees' expectation," and " five hundred acres " had been laid out
before, a grant of " the like number of acres of the unappropriated
lands adjacent to the township " should " be made to the settlers as
an equivalent." The General Court at once accepted the commit-
tee's report so far as to allow the settlements to be made on the west
side of the river ; but no action was taken at that time upon the re-
quest for a grant of land equivalent to the Sewall Farm.

Immediately upon the return to Portsmouth, on the 15th of May,
the New Hampshire committee — Messrs. Weare, Waldron, and
Atkinson — reported to the lieutenant-governor and council, that
they had been "at Pennecook," where they "found his Hon. Col.
Will. Taller, Esq., John Wainwright, Esq., and Col. Eleazer Tyng,
Esq., with sundry others, mostly unknown to " them, " to the num-
ber of near forty men, who were felling the trees and laying out the
lands there." " Whereupon," — the report continues, — " we presented
the order of Court, and assured them that their proceedings were
highly displeasing to the government which sent us thither, and their
persisting therein would be at their peril, for they might depend upon
it, when the controversial boundary between the two Provinces
should be determined, the poor misled people who might be induced
to settle there under the color of a Massachusetts grant, would be
dispossessed of the said lands, or suffer some other inconveniences
equally grievous ; and that the message on which we were sent, and
the fair forewarning they had by us, would take away all occasions of
complaint when they should be compelled to leave the said lands,
and lose the benefit of their improvement. To which the gentlemen
above-mentioned were pleased to reply, that, as we were sent by the
government of New-Hampshire, so were they, by the government of
Massachusetts, and that when they returned home, they ' : would
" lay before their General Assembly, the order of Council we had
delivered them, who, without doubt, would pass thereon as they
should think proper." 1

The council of Massachusetts took notice of this forewarning, by
passing an order, on the 28th of June, that a letter be sent to " Mr.
Agent Dummer"in London, instructing him "to take effective care
to answer any complaint " that the New Hampshire government
might make against the grant of Penacook " lately made." On the
other hand, Mr. Henry Newman, having " received letters " from the
New Hampshire authorities, " complaining of the encroachment of
Massachusetts Province," addressed, on the 8th of August, an urgent

1 1 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. IV, 12.

116 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

communication to the " Lords Commissioners of Trade and Planta-
tions/ 1 informing them that he had " some time since lodged in the
Council office, to be laid before His Majesty, a memorial requesting
that the boundaries of " those "provinces" might "be settled"; and
begging their " Lordships," that, " as that " might " require time to
be considered," they " would be pleased, in the meanwhile, to inter-
pose " their " authority for securing His Majesty's interest in the
Province of New-Hampshire from any detriment by the grants already
made ; and for suspending all grants of land on or near the boun-
daries in dispute, till His Majesty's pleasure therein" should "be
known." *

The summer and autumn of 172(3 passed, but the admitted settlers
had not yet drawn their lands by allotment. They had met the
court's committee, on the 7th of September, at the house or inn of
Francis Crumpton, in Ipswich, " to draw their respective lots," as
specified in the call for the meeting, but, from the lack of some prep-
arations deemed requisite by the committee, especially the cutting of
a road from Haverhill to the intended settlement, they did not then
receive the expected allotment. However, they "came into certain
orders and rules for bringing forward and effecting the settlement,"
which were put into the hands of the committee. They chose Cap-
tain Benjamin Stevens, treasurer, to receive the balance of money
paid the court's committee by the settlers, after defraying the com-
mittee's charges ; this balance " to be disposed of in marking out and
clearing a way to PennyCook." They appointed " Ensign John
Chandler, of Andover, John Ayer, of Haverhill, and Mr. William
Barker, of Andover, a committee to go out and clear a sufficient
cart-way to PennyCook, the nighest and best way, from Haverhill " ;
the expense to be " defrayed by the community." They also ordered
" Mr. Obadiah Ayer to make application to the General Court," . . .
in their behalf, " to have the five hundred pounds abated, and the
five hundred acres, — being the equivalent for Mr. Sewall's farm,
added to the township." Moreover, they completed their payment
of twenty shillings each, for making up the hundred pounds, ordered
by the committee to be raised for defraying the expense of " laying
out a way to the settlement."

During the autumn the committee on the " cart-way " were en-
gaged in the duty assigned them, with the help of Richard Hazzen,
who went " to search out and mark " a path by way of " Chester "
to " PennyCook." This new road, thus selected and " cut through,"
was a more direct and otherwise better one than that taken by the
committee in May, as already described. It kept farther to the east

1 Original in office of secretary of state; Bouton's Concord, 82.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 117

from the Merrimack, without deflections towards it at the several
falls. It passed up through the Chester woods, including those of
modern Hooksett ; and having skirted along " White Hall " and the
eastern edge of " Lakin's Pond " 1 it reached the Suncook. From the
ford at the site of the present village which bears the river's name,
the path ran northward for a portion of its distance, over the course
of the later thoroughfare, known as " Pembroke Street," onward to
the ford of the Soucook, 2 and thence beyond to Sugar Ball ; whence
was passage by boat to the west bank of the Merrimack.

In course of the summer and autumn some of the admitted settlers
were on the ground, and made hay upon the tempting intervals on
the west side of the river, stacking it for the future use of " the com-
munity." 2 It seems also that two of them at least — Henry Rolfe
and Richard Urann — spent the ensuing winter, or a part of it, in
Penacook, and hence it is sometimes claimed that they were the first
settlers. 3 It is said that the winter of 1126-21 was one of unusual
cold and depth of snow, and that these hardy pioneers suffered not a
little from the severity of the season and lack of provisions, but were
relieved by the kindly services of friendly Indians, who still lingered
in the home of their fathers. 4

Towards the close of winter, on the 7th and 8th of February, 1727,
a meeting of the court's committee and the admitted settlers was
held at the house of Benjamin Stevens in Andover. "A bond of
five pounds " was taken from each settler, " for the payment of five
hundred pounds for the use " of the province of Massachusetts, when
the General Court should " demand the same ; on penalty of forfeit-
ing title ... to the lands respectively." The settlers, having
complied with this condition, as well as that of opening, at their own
charge, a cart-way from Haverhill to Penacook, were allowed to draw
their allotments of land.

Each allotment consisted of a " House Lot " and a " Home, or Six
Acre, Lot"; the former containing an acre and a half; the latter,
six acres, more or less, according to quality. There were one hun-
dred and three allotments, being those of the hundred admitted set-
tlers, and three others — the " minister's," the " ministerial," and the
"school," 5 all laid out upon the west side of the river. The "house-
lots " were laid off in ranges. The first range ran along on the east
side of a highway-space, ten rods wide, — afterwards to be contracted

1 In modern Hooksett. History of Pembroke, 94-95.
1 See note at close of chapter.
8 Annals of Concord, 11 (note).

4 Bouton's Concord, 83.

5 At the close of this chapter will be found an alphabetical list of the proprietors, with the
house- and home-lots drawn by each in their respective ranges. This is accompanied by a
plan, by the aid of which the description in the text may be more easily understood. See
Bouton's Concord, 122, 123, 124, with plan.

US frlSTORY OF COXCORD. •

to a width of six rods, known as Main street, — and extended from
Horse Shoe pond hill, or " the minister's lot," J southward about a
mile and a half. This range contained thirty-seven lots, regularly
numbered from north to south, with the sixth and thirty-fifth vacant.
Parallel to this, and along the west side of the same thoroughfare,
and extending about the same distance, was the second range, con-
taining thirty-four lots, numbered in the same direction as those of
the first, with the thirtieth vacant. Westward of the second, and
separated from it by a highway-space ten rods wide, being a part of
what was to be State street, was the third range, which ran southerly
to the present Washington street, from a highway reservation, ex-
tending westerly from Horse Shoe pond hill. It contained twelve
lots, numbered from north to south in continuation of those in the
second range, with the thirty-ninth vacant. A short range, perpen-
dicular to the northernmost lots of the third range, extended west-
ward, and contained the school lot with three others. These four
lots were not numbered in the record, and took, it seems, the place
of the vacant ones in the other ranges. The " Island Range " lay
along the highland on the west side of Horse Shoe pond, and reached
northward to Wood's brook. It comprised nine "house lots," num-
bered from south to north, which had their accompanying "home lots "
on " Horse Shoe Island " near by, a fact that gave the range its name.

As has been seen, with these one hundred and three " House
Lots " went the same number of " Home, or Six Acre, Lots,"- —the
latter generally detached from the former, though the minister's allot-
ment had the two contiguous. The eleven allotments of the portion
of land variously styled " The Lowest Range," " The Lowest Inter-
vale," or " The Eleven Lots," extending northward from " The Great
Bend " of the river nearly to the southern extremities of the first and
second house-lot ranges, already described, had the peculiarity of
being, each, a combination of " house-lot " and " home-lot," and of
being designated exclusively by the latter name. Of the other
" home-lots," ten lay in " Wattanummon's Field," to the northward
of Horse Shoe pond, and southward of the Merrimack, as it there
flows ; seventy-two in " The Great Plain," comprising all the interval
northeast and east of the first range of " house-lots," and between
" Wattanummon's Field " and the " Frog Ponds " —the latter desig-
nating an area embraced by the river's curve north of " The Eleven
Lots " ; and, lastly, ten on Horse Shoe Island. Through these lots,
highways — some four rods wide, others two — were here and there
reserved.

Thus, the allotments that had been surveyed and laid out in May,

1 See note at close of chapter.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 119

1726, came at last, in February, 1727, into the hands of individual
proprietors. Each "admitted settler ,, had now his little farm of up-
land and interval, with the assurance of future enlargement of pos-
session out of lands yet unallotted ; and in this freehold tenure he
was to find a natural stimulus to the earnest exertion requisite to
accomplish the civilized occupation of the wilderness.

As soon as the settlers had drawn their land they held a meeting',
February 8, 1727, and voted to build "at Pennycook, a block-
house of twenty-five feet in breadth and forty feet in length, for the
security of the settlers " ; John Chandler, Moses Hazzen, Nehemiah
Carlton, Nathan Simonds, and Ebenezer Stevens being a committee
to examine the charges arising from " building a block-house, . . .
or any other charges, that " should " arise in bringing forward the
settlement," and, upon allowance, " to draw money out of the treas-
ury," for payment. They levied a tax of one hundred pounds to "be
paid in to the treasurer by the first day " of the succeeding March,
" for defraying past and future charges." They appointed John
Chandler, Henry Rolfe, William White, Richard Hazzen, Jr., and
John Osgood, " to lay out the intervale that " had " not yet " been
" laid out," so that the " whole," — including the part already laid
out, — should " be equally divided among " the settlers, " as to quan-
tity and quality." While adopting promptly such wise measures,
they thought it not premature to declare a war of extermination
against the venomous reptile, already found to be dangerously preva-
lent in the Penacook woods, by providing a bounty of " threepence "
for every " rattlesnake killed within the bounds of the township, to
be paid by the settlers' treasurer upon sight of the tail." x

The " Second Division of the Intervale," ordered at this meeting,
was surveyed and laid out in May, 1727, by the committee appointed
for that purpose, — Richard Hazzen, Jr., behig the surveyor, — and
was accepted by the court's committee in March, 1728. 2

The division comprised, on the east side of the river : (1) The
" Mill Brook Intervale," or the lands in the vicinity of Mill brook,
the outlet of Turtle pond into the Merrimack, lying in two ranges—
the first containing twenty-four lots, the second, twelve. (2) The
" Sugar Ball Division," situated in the valley south of Sugar Ball
hill, and containing sixteen lots. (3) "The Middle Plain," includ-
ing the interval extending from Sugar Ball plain to the river's curve
at the " Frog Ponds," and being in twenty-eight lots, numbered, — as
were all those hitherto mentioned, — down Merrimack river. (4) The
east-side " Lowest Intervale," opposite the " Eleven Lots," extending
from the ancient south line of the plantation, northward to the "Mid-

1 See note at close of chapter. 3 Bouton's Concord, 85.

120

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

die Plain " ; being in thirty-one lots, numbered up the river, and with
"a driftway of three rods through 1 ' their "westerly" ends, "as nigh
the Merrimack river as " might be convenient.

This second division included, on the west side of the Merrimack:
(1) "Rattlesnake Plains," comprising the interval reaching north-
ward from " Farnum's Eddy to the hills and bluffs which border the
river, northeast of West Parish village," x in seventeen lots, num-
bered up river, and with allowance for a highway. (2) " The Frog
Ponds,** —already often mentioned, — south of " The Great Plain,"
and divided into sixteen lots.

In addition, nine small lots not in range were laid out in various
localities. 2 Those persons whose allotments, in the first division, had
fallen in the " Eleven Lots," obtained, in the second, the same num-
ber of lots opposite in the " Lowest Intervale " on the east side of the
river, and also eleven others in the " Middle Plain." 3 In some other
cases, " two parcels, in different localities, were allotted to the same per-
son." 4 The number of lots in the second division was one hundred
and sixty-seven ; and these, exclusive of the nine scattered ones,
varied in size from two and a half acres to six. 5

In the early spring
of 1727, nearly a year
before the second as-
signment of lands was
completed, the set-
tlers had gone to work
in the plantation. By
April and May a pio-
neer band of propri-
etors, comprising Eb-
enezer Eastman, Jo-
seph and Edward Ab-
bott, John Merrill, and
forty or fifty others,
including employees,
had arrived, and at
once engaged " i n
building the meeting-
house, in clearing and fencing lots," and in other labors incident to
the beginning of a permanent settlement. 6 The " meeting-house " —

bouton's Concord, 86. s Ibid, 126.

2 Ibid, 127. 4 Ibid, 125.

6 The allotments of the second division are tabulated at the close of this chapter, with
quantity of land, locality, and names of owners. No plan is to be found. See notes at close
of chapter. See Bouton's Concord, 125-27.

"Depositions of Richard Hazzen, Joseph and Edward Abbot, and others in the Bow con-
troversy, cited in Bouton's Concord, 210-11.

The Meeting-house.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 121

otherwise denominated the "block house," or the "garrison house"
was the first building to be reared, and was early completed for use.
It was a modest structure of hewn logs, newly felled in the primeval
forest where it was placed. Its length was forty feet, and its width
twenty-five. Its roof was low-ridged, and without chimney or tower.
Its door opened midway the length, and unglazed port-hole windows
pierced the sides. The exterior of the structure, in its solidity with-
out beauty, was matched by an interior of rude finish and scanty fur-
nishing. It stood in the second range of house-lots, on the west side
of the main highway, by an eastward-flowing brook, not then named
"West's," and where, in after years, was to be the northwest corner
of Main and Chapel streets. With repairs and " amendments," it was
to answer its purposes, religious and secular, — in other words, as a
church and a town house, for nearly a quarter of a century.

During the season, some of the uplands were put in process of
clearing, and portions of the interval were plowed and planted with
Indian corn, while the native grass was cured into hay. It is asserted
that Samuel Ayer, a young proprietor, was the first to plow " a field
in Penacook." House-lots were prepared to receive the home build-
ing's of hewn log's. Indeed, Ebenezer Eastman, a veteran of the Port
Royal and Canadian expeditions of fifteen years before and now a
leading spirit in this plantation enterprise, had his house ready for
occupation in the fall of 1727, and there resided with his wife, Sarah
Peaslee, and his six sons — Ebenezer, Philip, Joseph, Nathaniel, Jere-
miah, and Obadiah — the first family of settlers resident in Penacook. 1
The house-lot where was then the Eastman home, was the ninth in
the second range of the original survey, not far south of the angle
made by the modern Franklin street with the main thoroughfare. But
in the second division of lots, early the next year, Captain Eastman
received the sixteenth lot in the " Mill Brook range," on the east side
of the river, and there he finally settled. It seems from tradition that
Captain Eastman's team of six yoke of oxen, with a cart, accompa-
nying the removal of his family to their new home, was the first out-
fit of the kind to pass over the road lately cut " through the wilder-
ness," from Haverhill to Penacook. 2 The outfit proving somewhat
unwieldy, found difficulty along the route, but especially towards the
end, where, at precipitous Sugar Ball, the driver, Jacob Shute, after-
wards a settler in the plantation, could secure a safe descent into the
plain bordering the river, only by felling a pine tree and chaining it
top foremost to the cart. 3

iBouton's Concord, 90; Annals of Concord, 11 (note).
2 Bouton's Concord, 88; Annals of Concord, 11 (note).
3 Ibid; also, see notes at close of chapter.

122 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

The arrival of Captain Eastman's family was probably soon fol-
lowed by that of others. Certainly, Edward Abbott and his wife,
Dorcas Chandler, passed the ensuing winter in the settlement. Pos-
sibly they dwelt upon the lot, marked by the junction of the present
Main and Montgomery streets, where they surely dwelt some years
later. 1 However that may be, to the worthy pair was born, on the
15th of February, 1728, a daughter, to whom was given the mother's
name, and who was the first white child born in Penacook. It was
not till nearly two years later that the first male child, Edward
Abbott, was born in the plantation and of the same parents.

Now, of the work of settlement, thus successfully pushed in the
plantation established by Massachusetts, the government of New
Hampshire was not an idle spectator. On the 20th of May, 1727,
it granted — " as it is believed without actual survey " 2 — the town-
ships of Bow, Canterbury, Chichester, and Epsom. The grant of
Bow, to one hundred and seven proprietors and " their associates,"
comprised eighty-one square miles, and covered about three fourths
of the plantation of Penacook, and much adjoining territory on the
south and southwest. This action was taken with a view to the
practical enforcement of the warning given in May of the previous
year, to the committee of the General Court of Massachusetts, then
engaged in laying off the lands in Penacook. New Hampshire was
determined to resist, pending the settlement of the boundary line be-
tween the two provinces, the claim of Massachusetts to the posses-
sion of all lands to the southward of the line three miles " northward
of the Merrimack from mouth to source." The grant of Bow in-
volved mischief to the Massachusetts settlers of Penacook, for there
was to come of it to them a long, vexatious, and injurious contro-
versy, the history of which belongs to a period twenty-five years
later.

The next year (1728), at a meeting of the settlers, called at their
" desire " by the court's committee, and held, on the 6th and 7th of
March, at the house of John Griffin, in Bradford, an appropriation
was voted to discharge accounts for " laying out the second division
of intervale, for building the block-house, making canoes," and for
other purposes. A committee, consisting of Ebenezer Eastman,
Joseph Hall, and Abraham Foster, was appointed " to amend the
new way from PennyCook to Haverhill." The same committee had
in charge " to fence in," by the last day of May, " all the first divis-
ion of intervale " ; each proprietor having the choice " to fence in his
proportion, or else to pay the committee for doing it."

1 On or near the site of the residence of the late Eliphalet S. Nutter.

2 Bouton's Concord, 206 (note).

THE PLANTATION OF PEXACOOK. 123

At this meeting action was also taken towards seeming the regu-
lar preaching of the gospel. Accordingly, Joseph Hall and John
Pecker " were empowered to agree with a minister to preach at Pen-
nyCook, the year ensuing ; to begin the service from the fifteenth day
of May." The committee received also injunction " to act with all
prudence, and not assure the gentleman more than the rate of one
hundred pounds per annum for his services."

Other business of a financial character, or connection, having been
transacted, as, ordering one hundred pounds to be raised " for defray-
ing past and future charges " ; appointing collectors " to demand and
receive, and, if need be, sue for and recover in the law," arrearages
on sums previously raised ; making appropriations to individuals for
services rendered, and choosing Deacon John Osgood, treasurer, the
meeting was continued by adjournment to the 15th of May, then to
be held " at the block-house in Penny-Cook."

At this adjourned meeting, — the first of the kind held by the set-
tlers on the soil of their new plantation, and the earliest forerunner
of " Concord town-meetings,"- —Captain Henry Rolfe was moderator,
with John Wainwright, of the court's committee, clerk. The prog-
ress of the settlement was evinced in the appointment of Henry
Rolfe, Ebenezer Eastman, and James Mitchell, as a committee, to
procure the building of a sawmill within six months, " to supply the
town with good merchantable boards of yellow pine, at thirty shil-
lings per thousand, and . . . white pine boards at forty shillings
per thousand — or to saw of each sort to the halves " ; and also " to
agree with some person or persons to erect a grist-mill," within a
year, and " to oblige the builder or builders to grind the town's corn
of all sorts, well and free from grit, for the usual toll." It was fur-
ther provided that " fifty pounds of bills of credit " should be paid,
and " fifty acres of land " granted for building each of the mills, and
that the builders should " be entitled to the said lands and also to
the stream or streams upon which the mills " stood, " so long as they "
were " kept in repair, and the design of the town in having them
built " was " answered " ; this title to hold good, if the mills should
be "providentially consumed." As already seen, provision had
been made for canoes to navigate the river ; but now another ad-
vance was made in taking steps towards a more effective mode of
crossing the stream by authorizing Ebenezer Eastman, Abraham Fos-
ter, and Joseph Hall, " to agree with some person to keep a ferry on
Merrimack river," and " to clear the best way they " could " to the
ferry-place " ; the ferriage to be sixpence for " each man and horse,"
and fourpence " for each horned beast."

The settlers, thus busily intent upon advancing the interests of their

124 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

plantation, received, on the 6th of August, 1728, from the legislature
of Massachusetts, upon a petition presented by John Osgood, permis-
sion " to extend the south bounds of the township one hundred rods,
the full breadth of the town," as an equivalent for the five hundred
acres formerly laid out to the right of Governor Endicott, — otherwise
the Sewall Farm. On the same day, and by the same legislature,
was granted to the volunteers under Captain Love well, a portion of
the wilderness to the southward, six miles square, and named Sun-
cook, described as " lying on each side of the Merrimack," and " of
the same breadth from the river as Pennicook," and " beginning
where Pennicook new grant determines." The territory of Suncook
was largely included in that of Bow. As New Hampshire had, the
year before, laid the township of Bow over the greater part of Pena-
cook, so Massachusetts now laid the greater part of Suncook over
Bow. Such territorial overlapping — such a shingling of hostile
grants, so to speak — was not conducive to peaceable occupation, as
subsequent events were to attest.

As already mentioned, action had been taken by the settlers, early
in the year, with a view to securing regular religious service. Little
is known of the immediate result of that action. It is certain, how-
ever, that Reverend Enoch Coffin and Reverend Bezaliel Toppan,
both proprietors, and both Harvard graduates, occasionally occupied
the pulpit of the log meeting-house; for early the next year (1729)
an allowance of four pounds was granted to the heirs of the former,
and thirty shillings to the latter, " for preaching and performing
divine service at PennyCook." 1 At the meetings of the settlers,
held in May and June of 1729, the subject of " procuring a minister "
was a prominent one. At the June meetings, a committee, enlarged
from two to seven, and consisting of John Osgood, John Pecker,
John Chandler, Ebenezer Eastman, Nathan Simonds, William Barker,
and Joseph Hall, was appointed " to call and agree with some suitable
person to be minister of the town of PennyCook," at a salary of " one
hundred pounds per annum " to " be paid by the community."
Another sum of " one hundred pounds " was " allowed to be paid out
of the company's treasury as an encouragement to the first minister
for settling as " such, " and taking pastoral charge." At the subse-
quent adjourned meeting in October, " every proprietor or intended
settler " was assessed " in the sum of twenty shillings, towards the
support of an orthodox minister, . . . for the current year."
Though the permanent supply of preaching had not then been secured,
yet it is probable that, in course of the year, Timothy Walker, of
Wobuin, a young man of twenty-four, and four years out of Harvard

1 See note at close of chapter.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 125

college, made his first appearance in the Penacook pulpit, and there
continued his services, more or less constantly, until his " call " to
the pastorate in 1730.

In those days, too, the attention of the settlers was steadily
directed to providing suitable roads within the settlement, and the
region to the southward which had been their home. To facilitate
the crossing of the Soucook and Suncook rivers fell to them exclu-
sively, in the absence of neighbors to share the labor and expense.
As a westward branch of the original Haverhill road, a new path,
also, had to be opened leading directly from the Soucook crossing to
the southerly part of the main settlement growing up along the west
bank of the Merrimack. Hence, in proprietors' meeting on the 6th
of May (1729), William Barker, Timothy Johnson, and Nicholas
White were instructed " to make a fordway over Sow-Cooke river,
and clear a way thence to the Merrimack river against the Eleven
Lots, at the charge of the community." Within a year, and to
another committee, consisting of John Pecker, Ebenezer Stevens, and
Abraham Bradley, was assigned the duty, " to amend and repair the
necessary roads in Pennycook, and also, ... to build a good
bridge over Sow-Cook river, at the cost of the settlers " ; being the
first structure of its kind to span a Concord stream. At the time
when the branch way to the Merrimack against the " Eleven Lots "
was ordered to be cleared, Nehemiah Carlton was " desired, for the
sum of ten pounds to build a ferry-boat, about nineteen feet long,
and of suitable breadth, well timbered . . . well caulked,
pitched, or turpentined, and furnished fit to carry people and crea-
tures." This was forthwith " to be delivered, with a pair of good
and suitable oars, at PennyCook, for the use of the society." Already
Henry Rolfe had built a " ferry-boat for the carrying of the com-
munity and company over the river Suncook," for which he was
allowed five pounds. Carlton's boat was soon plying on the Merri-
mack, at the Eleven Lots ; and in March, 1730, in accordance with
the action of two years before, a ferry was definitely established at or
near the former " ferry place." It was then decided that " John
Merrill " should " have the ferry, with twenty acres of land near " :
the ferriage to be " two pence for a man, and four pence for a horse "
or other " beast " ; and, after twenty years, " one penny per man " of
" the inhabitants of PennyCook," and " three pence " a head for
" beasts." This ferry, which later bore the name of Butters's, had
location at some distance to the northward of the place where,
more than sixty years later, a bridge — ever after to be maintained —
was to be built over the Merrimack. On the hillside towards the
west, the ferryman's twenty acres were laid out ; and there his house

126 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

stood near the lower end of the main thoroughfare, where has long
been a parting of roads. 1

By 1729 " Mr. Simonds and company ' — as designated in the
record — had completed, on Mill brook, the first sawmill, and, half
a mile below this, the first grist-mill, as provided for by the settlers
the year before. The stones of the latter were taken from Rattle-
snake hill ; 2 the crank of the former was brought from Haverhill on
horseback. Soon after the mill was put to use it was disabled by
the breaking of this iron crank — with no blacksmith short of Haver-
hill. But necessity suggested relief. A forge of blazing pitch-pine
knots having been extemporized, the broken member, splintered with
beetle-rings and wedges, had its fracture so reduced, and so knit in a
thorough weld, that it was almost as good a crank as ever. 3 The
inconvenience of having the nearest blacksmith shop fifty miles away
must have been felt by the settlers in other instances than this. So
the next year (1730), provision was made to secure the services of a
resident smith, in the vote " that Mr. Cutting Noyes " should " have
fifty acres of land : ten of which " were to " be laid out against Mr.
Pecker's lot, . . . sixteen rods front, and extending back from
the high way," ten rods ; 1 while " the other forty acres " were " to be
laid out in some of the other divisions : provided " he should " do the
blacksmith work for the town for ten years." On these terms the
first smith cast in his lot with the farmers and carpenters of Pena-
cook.

The new sawmill supplied convenient lumber. The settlers were
not slow to avail themselves of this advantage in repairing their
meeting-house, and providing it with " a floor of planks or boards."
The mention of this improvement suggests the more important fact
that soon the pulpit of that modest edifice was to be occupied by a
settled "orthodox minister." On the last day of March, 1730, the
settlers reappointed the committee of seven, selected in June of the
preceding year, and instructed it " to agree with the Rev. Mr. Timo-
thy Walker, in order to his carrying on the work of the ministry in
PennyCook for the year ensuing, and to treat with " him " in order
to his settlement " in that " work." At the same time provision was
made for " a speedy " additional " repairing of the house of worship."
Six months later, "the General Court's committee" notified "the pro-
prietors and grantees to assemble at the meeting-house " in "Penny-
Cook, on the fourteenth day of October," and " then and there to
choose a minister," fix the terms of settlement, and arrange "for his
ordination." At the meeting held in accordance with this order, it

1 See note at close of chapter.

2 Bouton's Concord, 545.

8 Annals of Concord, 11 (note) ; Bouton's Concord, 93.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 127

was " voted by the admitted settlers, that they" would " have a min-
ister" ; that " the Rev. Mr. Timothy Walker" should "be the minis-
ter of the town " ; that the committee of seven should " agree with "
him " upon terms " of settlement ; that he should "have one hundred
pounds for the year ensuing " —this to " rise forty shillings per annum
till " coming " to one hundred and twenty pounds," x which should
" be the stated sum annually for his salary " ; that " salary " should
" be paid in whatever " should " be the medium of trade, for the time
being, in " the " province, at silver seventeen shillings per ounce " ;
and, finally, that " the one hundred pounds formerly voted, to enable
the minister to build a house " should " be paid in eighteen months'
time." These stipulations were rounded off with the careful pro-
viso, " that if Mr. Walker, by extreme old age," should " be dis-
enabled from carrying on the whole work of the ministry, he " should
abate so much of his salary as " should be rational." A committee
was then selected, consisting of " Deacon John Osgood, Mr. John
Pecker, Mr. Benjamin Nichols, and Mr. Ebenezer Eastman, to dis-
course with Mr. Walker about the time of his ordination, and to
appoint the day ; also to request " such churches as they " might
think proper, to send their ministers and messengers to assist in "
the services, the committee being authorized " to appoint suitable
entertainment " for the guests.

Mr. Walker having formally accepted, by letter, " the invitation to
settle in the ministry," his ordination occurred on the 18th of No-
vember, 1730. As to this important event in the history of the new
settlement, present information is but meager. No tradition describes
that earnest assemblage of strong-hearted pioneers, the early men
and women of Penacook, gathered, with their guests, in the humble
church on the cleared rim of the leafless forest of that November
day. Something is known of the services of the impressive occasion,
though of the visitants, present on invitation, the names of only
three, — ministers of Massachusetts churches, — have been preserved.
These, John Barnard of North Andover, Samuel Phillips : of
South Andover, and John P>rown of Haverhill, were of the coun-
cil, if not its sole constituents. The charge was given by Mr. Phil-
lips ; the right hand of fellowship by Mr. Brown. The sermon was
preached by Mr. Barnard, and in this the preacher urged the people
" always ... to rejoice and strengthen the hands of their min-
ister by their concord " —words which embodied an appeal not un-
heeded in the coming years, while, by pleasant accident, they included
the future permanent name of the settlement. On that occasion, too,
the first church in Penacook was organized, with eight members,

1 See note at close of chapter.

128

HISTORY' OF CONCORD.

ft- : f *

%''.' $ :7 ^Jl

including the pastor. The expenses of the ordination, as afterward
allowed and paid, amounted to thirty-one pounds ten shillings. Thus
the new pastor embarked with the people of his charge ; and, to them,
in things secular as well as religious, he was ever to be a safe pilot.
The week after his ordination, he brought to Penacook his wife, Sarah
Burbeen, of Woburn, the bride of a fortnight, in company with the
wives of several other settlers, all with brave and hopeful hearts,
making the journey on horseback, over the wilderness road to their
new homes beside the Merrimack.

The requisition made in the beginning, upon " the intended set-
tlers," as to a place for divine worship and the
settlement of a minister, had now been com-
plied with, while other requirements of " the
community " had been or were to be duly met.
Hence, this same year (1730) Henry Rolfe,
John Pecker, and John Chandler were ap-
pointed to lay out a suitable burying-place.
Accordingly, the house-lot situated between
numbers thirty-eight and forty in the third
range, or the continuation of the second, on
the west side of the highway afterward named
State street, and left vacant in the original
drawing of lots in 1727, was appropriated to
that purpose. 1
The proper fencing of the interval was another requirement, to
meet which demanded persistent effort in the early years. The action
taken upon this matter, in March, 1728, has already been mentioned.
The result of that action seems to have been unsatisfactory, for in
December the court's committee was petitioned to appoint a meeting
of " the community and society of PennyCook, to see if they " could
" come into some way and method to preserve their corn," inasmuch
as they " received great damage last year, in " their " corn for want
of a fence." At the meeting appointed in compliance with the peti-
tion, and held by adjournment on the 12th of March, 1729, it was
voted " that a good and substantial fence, according to law," should
"lie made, to enclose the great interval, and secure the corn and
mowing grass from the encroachment of cattle, horses, &c." ; this to
be done " at the charge of the proprietors in said field in equal shares
. . . and to be completely finished on or before the 15th day of May"
ensuing. At the same time, Messrs. Ebenezer Eastman, Ebenezer
Stevens, John Chandler, John Pecker, and Nathan Simonds, were

1 The site was the present " Old Burying Ground;" also, see plan of lots at close of chap-
ter.

Old Burying-ground.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 129

instructed as a committee, " to see that the fence be made sufficient,
according to the law . . . and maintained accordingly " ; with
power, should " anyone refuse to make and maintain his part of the
fence, to hire " it " made at the charge of the delinquent,'* who should
" pay ten shillings per diem for every laborer employed ... by
the committee to make or repair such delinquent's fence." The next
year similar and effectual action was taken respecting " the general
fence at PennyCook." Moreover, as additional security against dam-
age from stray beasts, a pound was ordered to be built, and David
Barker and Jacob Shute were chosen " field-drivers," whose duty it
was to look after wandering animals, and to impound them, if neces-
sary. It was not, however, till the next year and under a new vote
that the pound was built ; when, also, Nathaniel Abbott and Ezekiel
Walker served as field-drivers, and the former as poundkeeper.

The financial requirements of the pioneer community occasionally
encountered individual delinquency. But the delinquents met with
no favor from the body of proprietors, who manifested the steady
purpose to bring every admitted settler to contribute promptly his
part towards advancing the enterprise. Hence, as early as 1728,
Solomon Martin was " admitted a settler in place of Nathaniel Bar-
ker," who had forfeited his right by " refusing to pay his proportion-
able charge." The next year complaint was made that " sundry
persons " had " refused to pay in their respective proportion of
charges," to the hindrance and discouragement of the settlement.
Therefore " due inquiry " was ordered to be made as to " what per-
sons " were " in arrearages," so that immediate payment might be
demanded of them. " Upon their refusal or non-payment," they were
to be reported " to the General Court's Committee . . . that
their honors " might " proceed with them with the utmost rigor and
severity." And so, in 1730, William Whitcher, Nathaniel Sanborn,
Thomas Coleman, and Thomas Wicombe forfeited their rights, and
their lots were assigned to Joseph Gerrish, Henry Rolfe, Nathan
Webster, and Joseph Parker . . . each of whom paid five
pounds for the lot thus received. 1 But there was one requisition in
the original grant which the proprietors were unanimously reluctant
to meet ; hoping that it might be partially, if not wholly, remitted.
This was the stipulated payment of five hundred pounds to the prov-
ince of Massachusetts, — five pounds for each of the hundred admitted
settlers. To secure this payment, the proprietors, after ineffectual
application for relief from what seemed to them an onerous condition,
and before drawing their lands, had each given a bond for his share,
payable on demand. And now in the last week of September, 1730,

1 Bouton's Concord, 90-1.

130 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

the General Court's committee, in calling the grantees to a meeting
in " PennyCook," to choose and settle a minister, " more especially
notified each proprietor to prepare the sum of five pounds ordered by
the General Court in the grant of the township, — and respectively
pay the same to the committee ... at the house of Mr. Sted-
man, taverner, in Cambridge, on Wednesday, the twenty-first of
October, at ten o'clock before noon, as '* thus would be avoided " the
trouble and charge of having their bonds put in suit at the next
court." At the meeting thus notified, which was held in Penacook,
on the 14th of October, " Mr. Pecker and Ensign Chandler were
chosen to " meet the General Court's committee at the time and place
specified and " to pray their forbearance with the proprietors, relating
to the five pounds due from each proprietor to the province." What
" forbearance," if any, was obtained, is not known. But that the five
hundred pounds were paid before the next March seems certain, for
at that time, in a petition to the Massachusetts legislature for the con-
ferring of town privileges, the proprietors set forth that " they " had
" paid into the hands of the committee of the General Court the con-
sideration money for their lots " ; and they prayed " that the court
would order that one hundred pounds, or more, of the money " thus
paid in might "be reimbursed them, for the extraordinary charges
they " had " been at," in " building a meeting-house, settling a min-
ister, making highways, et cetera." It appears that, upon this peti-
tion, or some other, the entire sum of five hundred pounds was in
some form reimbursed. ]

Penacook was still a plantation, though, all along, it had been fre-
quently designated as a "town "or "township." Indeed, in 1729,
the settlers had petitioned the General Court "to empower "them to
raise money to pay public charges, by making the settlement a town-
ship invested with " the powers and privileges " of other towns with-
in the province. This petition proving ineffectual, another was pre-
sented in 1730, likewise without attaining the desired result. Hut
in March, now that " the conditions of the original grant of the plan-
tation had been complied with," 2 — including the five hundred pounds
of " consideration money " paid in, — the settlers presented to the
General Court the petition mentioned in the preceding paragraph,
setting forth expenses incurred and the likelihood of tk difficulty " to
be met with "in gathering the money thus laid out," and "therefore
praying that they " might be made a township.

This petition having been somewhat considered by the General
Court, was, on the 6th of March, "referred "to the May session.
Hut this reference was accompanied by an important order regulating

1 Bouton's Concord, 132. 2 Ibid, 103.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 131

the plantation, and granting it approximate town rights and privi-
leges. It authorized Henry Rolf e to call a meeting of the inhabitants
and grantees "at the meeting-house," on the 29th of March, 1731,
and of which he was to be moderator. It provided for the choice of
a clerk, assessors and collectors of taxes, a constable, fence-viewers,
and hog-reeves — all to be sworn by the moderator. It empowered
the grantees and settlers to agree on ministerial and other "rates
and taxes," to be " levied equally on the lots except " those " of
the ministry " and the " school," and all to be " paid into the
hands of the assessors, by them to be disposed of for defraying the
ministerial and other charges of the plantation."" It instructed
" Henry Rolfe to take an exact account of what " was " done in each
lot in fencing, building, and improving," and lay the same before the
court at the next May session. It authorized " the committee for
the settlement of the plantation " to grant anew the lots of delin-
quents " to such other persons as " should " speedily and effectually "
comply " with the terms of their grants and the orders of the Court."
And, finally, the order declared the plantation " to lie in the county
of Essex," — a declaration for which the settlers had petitioned two
years before.

At the meeting held pursuant to this order, the list of officers sug-
gested by the general court was filled by election. Benjamin Rolfe,
son of the moderator, and a recent graduate of Harvard college, was
chosen clerk. He was a rising man, and had already served as
recording officer at the meeting of " the admitted settlers," held the
previous year for the choice of a minister. About that time, too,
John Wainwright, who had kept the records of the court's committee
and of the proprietors, resigned, Rolfe becoming his successor, as
proprietary clerk, or, as he was sometimes designated, " clerk for
the settlers and grantees of PennyCook." At this first meeting,
in connection with the choice of two hog-reeves, it was voted
" that the hogs " might " go at large." It was also voted " that
the fence " should " be made up round the general field by the
fifteenth of April, and also creatures kept out of it after that day,"
and " that the general field be broken, the fifteenth of October." To
effectuate this action, fence-viewers and field-drivers were chosen,
and also a pound was definitely ordered to be built, — as before men-
tioned, — and a pound-keeper chosen. Moreover, " Abraham Brad-
ley, Ebenezer Eastman, and William Barker, Jr.," were made " a
committee to mend the highways . . . ," in other words, to
be highway surveyors. " Two hundred pounds " were raised for
the payment of the "minister, and defraying other necessary
charges " ; while the assessors — who by committee assignment per-

132 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

formed some of the duties of selectmen in the absence of these offi-
cers from the official list — were instructed " to clear the minister's
and mimstery's six acre lot, at the charge of the community."

The meeting was kept alive during the year 1731 by three or four
adjournments, with Henry Rolfe as permanent moderator. At the
first adjournment, on the last day of March, the attention of the set-
tlers was almost exclusively devoted to taking the first steps towards
establishing the " School." This important action was embodied in
votes, "... that ten pounds " should " be levied on the grantees,
to be laid out for the instructing of the children in reading, et cetera ;
that the school " should " be kept in two of the most convenient parts
of the township " ; and " that Mr. Ebenezer Eastman and Mr.
Timothy Clement" should, as a committee, "lease out the six acre
lot belonging to the School, to David Barker for the term of four
years." Unfortunately, no further historical record, no additional
tradition even, is extant as to this interesting initial movement in
education — the future pride and blessing of the community.

At the third adjourned meeting, on the 21st of October (1731),
a committee was " chosen to settle the bounds of . . . Sewall's
Farm ". Hitherto, repeated mention has been made of this valuable
tract of five hundred acres, originally Endicott's grant. It had sup-
plied, as will be recollected, a leading motive for changing the origi-
nal purpose of the Penacook grant, which was to locate the first fifty
settlements on the east side of the river. In 1729 Captain Eben-
ezer Eastman had taken from Judge Sewall a lease of the farm for
thirty years ; agreeing to pay as rent ten shillings the first year, with
an increase of ten shillings each succeeding year, till fifteen pounds
should be reached, — this sum to be paid annually afterwards. He
was to improve the land by cultivation to the value of one hundred
pounds ; to build a timber house and barn together worth the same
sum ; to leave on the farm one hundred pounds' worth of fences of
stone or timber ; to plant, in a regular orchard, five hundred apple
trees, and to set out one hundred other fruit trees, such as cherry,
pear, quince, and plum. 1 Before 1731 the farm was sold to Joseph
Gerrish and Henry Rolfe, of Newbury, to whom the annual rent was
afterwards paid. 2 In that year Captain Eastman was reported as
having " broken up, cleared, and mowed eighty acres," 3 — a portion of
which doubtless belonged to this farm.

The plantation was thus trying its capability for town government,
as best it might, in the leading strings of the general court of Massa-
chusetts. That capability the court would test, under liberal though

'Original lease in archives of N. H. Hist. Society.
2 Bouton's Concord, 553 (note).
» Ibid, 129.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 133

temporary concessions, before granting absolute and permanent
township rights and privileges. Definite information, also, as to the
actual condition of the settlement was insisted upon; hence, the
order had required " an exact account " of what the settlers had
done upon their lands to be taken and rendered. This duty, though
assigned to Henry Rolfe, seems to have been done by John Wain-
wright and John Sanders, two members of the court's committee,
whose signatures alone stand attached to the report dated October
20, 1731, and certified to be "The account of the present state and
circumstances of the Plantation of PennyCook, taken there by as
careful a view as we could, and the best information of the principal
settlers and inhabitants." 3

The general court's order of March, 1731, was substantially re-
newed in January, 1732, but without empowering any person to call
the first meeting. This omission hindered the holding of the " anni-
versary meeting " in March, for the choice of officers and the raising
of money, as authorized by the order. A legal way was at length
found out for obviating somewhat the consequent embarrassment. A
meeting of the settlers, not as " inhabitants " or " freeholders," but
as " proprietors," had to be summoned. Richard Kent, of Newbury,
a justice of the peace for the county -of Essex, upon application of
Jeremiah Stickney and four other "proprietors of PennyCook,"
issued to Nathaniel Abbott, a warrant " for calling a proprietors'
meeting." Upon due notification, the settlers convened on the 14th
of September (1732), and chose Ebenezer Eastman, moderator, and
Benjamin Rolfe, clerk. They elected no other officers ; but they
agreed upon a more expeditious method of calling meetings, whereby,
at the written request of ten of the " proprietors," the clerk could
call a meeting " by giving fourteen days' warning." Five of these
proprietary meetings were held in course of the year ; and thus the
settlers contrived to meet some of the requirements of the plantation.
Thus, in September, they appointed a committee of six, with
Ebenezer Eastman at the head, " to lay out a first division of upland
to each grantee . . . consisting of twenty acres in quantity
and quality, in one or more pieces," leaving "land for sufficient
highways." This " Twenty Acres Division " 2 was completed within
two years. In October they raised " one hundred pounds for the
support of" the minister. In November they ordered another
division of land. This was entrusted to a committee of five, headed
by Abraham Bradley, with instructions " to make amendments to the
interval lots, in interval or other land." It required about two years

1 Bouton's Concord, 13 (Proprietary Records).

2 See note at close of chapter; Bouton's Concord, 127.

134 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

to accomplish this division, known as the " Emendation Lots." *
Preliminary measures were also taken at several of these meetings,
as to building a sawmill and a grist-mill on Turkey river, for the use
of the proprietors. The settlers, in a large majority, dwelling on the
west side of the Merrimack, probably, found the location of the mills
on Mill brook, on the east side, inconvenient; while from a vote of
inquiry as to the condition and management of the latter mills,
adopted about that time, it is a reasonable inference that there were
other causes of dissatisfaction.

In December, 1732, the settlers of Penacook, by Henry Rolfe,
made petition to the authorities of Massachusetts that " some meet
person " might be empowered " to call the first meeting of the inhab-
itants for the ends and purposes " of the January order of that year ;
thus affording relief from " many hardships and difficulties." Where-
upon, on the 21st of December (1732), Governor Belcher " consented
to " the following order, which, the day before, had been concurrently
agreed upon by the council and the house of representatives : " Or-
dered that Mr. Benjamin Rolfe, one of the principal inhabitants of
the plantation of PennyCook be and hereby is fully impowered to
assemble and convene the inhabitants of said plantation, to choose offi-
cers and to do other matters, in pursuance of an order of this court
at their session, begun and held at Boston, the first day of December,
1731 ; which officers, when chosen, are to stand until the anniversary
meeting in March next."

In accordance with this order, Benjamin Rolfe, on the 8th of Jan-
uary, 1733, "set up" the following notification at the meeting-
house door in PennyCook : " The inhabitants of the Plantation of
PennyCook are hereby notified to assemble and convene at the meet-
ing-house in PennyCook, on the eleventh day of this instant January,
at nine of the clock in the forenoon, then and there to choose a town-
clerk, selectmen and constables, and all other ordinary town officers ;
which officers, when chosen, are to stand to the anniversary meeting
in March next." A

This first meeting of the " settlers " was to choose " town officers "
for the plantation. Having organized by selecting Ebenezer Eastman
for moderator, and Benjamin Rolfe for town clerk, the settlers pro-
ceeded to the elections. Under the privilege of choosing selectmen,
—the privilege pre-eminently distinctive of the New England town,
and now for the first time exercised, — they chose Captain Ebenezer
Eastman, Deacon John Merrill, and Mr. Edward Abbott. These
were also elected assessors. The purpose of assembling was fulfilled

1 See note at close of chapter; Bouton's Concord, 128.
s Town Kecords (1732-1820), 1.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 135

by the choice of a constable, a town treasurer, a collector of taxes, a
sealer of leather, two surveyors of highways, two tythingmen, two
hog-reeves, two fence-viewers, and two field-drivers.

The first meeting having been dissolved, the newly-elected select-
men, forthwith, as their first official act, issued a warrant to Nathaniel
Abbott, constable, to summon " the inhabitants and freeholders " to
a second meeting, to be held " at three of the clock in the after-
noon " of that same 11th of January. Thus warned by the consta-
ble's notification, set up at the meeting-house, the settlers met, and,
with John Chandler as moderator, transacted the business specified in
the warrant. This was comprised in two votes, raising one hundred
and ten pounds " for the support " of the minister, and one hundred
pounds " for defraying the necessary charges of the town or planta-
tion."

The town-meeting, in its full import, had come to the " inhabi-
tants " of Penacook, even before their plantation could legally be
called a town. To this date the proceedings of the settlers' meetings
had been exclusively matters of proprietary record ; thenceforth the
proprietary and town records were to be kept separately, but both,
for some years, by Benjamin Rolfe.

The regular " anniversary " town meetings came on the 6th of
March, 1733, and officers to serve for the ensuing year were elected,
those chosen in January holding place only till March. There was
an inclination, it would seem, to make the most of the newly-acquired
privilege of choosing selectmen ; for a board of five, instead of three,
was elected, — an incident of the office not again occurring in Con-
cord, save in the years 1749 and 1850. In their town legislation the
settlers, as usual in those days, first remembered the minister, and
voted one hundred and five pounds for his support ; following this
by an appropriation of two hundred pounds for other town charges.
They provided for the safety of flock and herd by offering a bounty
of twenty shillings to encourage the killing of wolves ; for the pro-
tection of the crops, by promising a penny for every head of blackbird
brought to the selectmen and burnt ; and for the better securit}^ of
human life, by ordering the payment of sixpence for every rattlesnake
killed, the entire tail or black joint of it having been brought to the
selectmen by " the destroyer of such snakes."

At a proprietors' meeting, held on the 26th of March, twenty days
after the town meeting, the arrangements begun the year before for
building mills on Turkey river were completed. Henry Lovejoy and
Barachias Farnum were accepted for building the mills. They
were to have the whole stream of the river in Penacook, forty
acres of land adjoining the mills, and one hundred acres — within a

136 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

mile or two, and forty pounds in money or forty pounds' worth
of work. In cast* of forfeiture, the proprietors were to pay them
the value of one half of the iron work and stones. They were
allowed to flow as much swamp as they could "for a mill-pond
betwixt the first and second falls, below the lowest pond on Turkey
river in PennyCook." They were not to be obliged to tend the grist-
mill save on Mondays and Fridays, provided that during the term of
ten years they should grind all the grain brought to the mill on those
days. The mills were completed before 1735, at the lower falls of
the Turkey, in the locality which came to be known as Millville.

At special town meetings, held in course of the year, special re-
quirements were met. Thus, on the 5th of December, it was voted
that thirty pounds should " be drawn from the town treasury to buy
ammunition for the use of the inhabitants and freeholders of the
plantation. ,, * This action probably resulted from fears " entertained
of the hostile disposition of the Indians, although no act of aggres-
sion had been committed." 2 At the same time, also, education re-
ceived attention in a vote to appropriate sixteen pounds to the sup-
port of " a school " for the winter and ensuing spring. 3 It is said
that James Scales, of Boxford, afterwards the minister of Hopkinton,
was the first teacher, and that James Holt, of Andover, was his suc-
cessor. 4 Again, on the 16th of January, 1731, fifty pounds were
given the minister " for building him a dwelling-house . . . upon
his giving the inhabitants and freeholders a receipt ... in full
for his salary in times past until this day, for the decay of money, it
not being equal to silver at seventeen shillings the ounce." 5 Hitherto
Mr. Walker had lived in a log-house on the brow of the hill over-
looking Horse Shoe pond. In course of the year 1734 he erected the
frame house, two-storied and gambrel-roofed, which was to be his
home through life, and in which were to dwell his descendants from
generation to generation, standing through the years, " the oldest "
structure of its kind " between Haverhill and Canada."

Penacook's transition from plantation to township, through the
three years, 1731-33, was now nearly made ; indeed, for a year, the
leading strings of foreign authority had been relaxed to virtual drop-
ping. That town-meeting of January 16, 1731, was the last for
Penacook as a plantation. For the petition of Henry Rolfe " for
himself and the other grantees " was already, or forthwith would be,
before the general court of Massachusetts, praying that the planta-
tion might be erected into a township. That prayer would be an-
swered, not many days hence, in an act of incorporation, whereby the
Plantation of Penacook should become the Town of Rumford.

1 Town Records. 14. 3 Town Records, 14. 5 Town Records, 15.

» Annals of Concord , 16. * Annals of Concord, 16.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK.

137

For eight years now had the favorite abiding-place of the red Pen-
acooks been in the occupation of white men exclusively English in
descent. The Massachusetts towns of Andover, Haverhill, Newbury,
Bradford, Ipswich, Salisbury, and Woburn had contributed the strong,
wise, and energetic pioneers of the settlement — the first two towns in
nearly equal quotas. The record of the doings of these original set-
tlers, given with some minuteness in this chapter, has shown them to
have been a well selected hundred, and fully competent successfully
" to prosecute their noble and hazardous enterprise." Such names
as Rolfe, Eastman, Abbott, Merrill, Pecker, Chandler, Stevens,
Walker, so often recurring in the narrative, while they individualize,
do but represent the sterling New England qualities of the body of
Penacook's early settlers, by whom the beginning was made which
costs.

Notes.

IAst of Admitted Settlers. The following list of the one hundred
persons admitted " to forward the settlement " of Penacook appears
in the Proprietors'' Records, under date of " Saturday, Feb. 5th,
1725, " as cited in Bouton's Concord, 67-68:

Zebediali Barker,
John Osgood,
Benjamin Parker,
Moses Day,
John Sanders,
Robert Kimball,
Nathaniel Abbott,
Stephen Osgood,
John Wright,
Ebenezer Stevens,
Thomas Page,
Robert Peaslee,
John Grainger,
Timothy Johnson,
William White,
Samuel Reynolds,
Nath'l Lovejoy,
John Saunders, jnn.
John Chandler,
Thomas Blanchard,
Joseph Parker,
Nathan Parker,
John Foster,

Christopher Carlton,
John Austin,
Samuel Kimball,
Nath'l Clement,
Samuel Ayer,
Joseph Davis,
Nehemiah Heath,
Nath'l Sanders,
Abraham Foster,
Nath'l Barker,
Samuel Davis,
Samuel Toppan,

John Mattis,
William Whittier,
Joseph Page,
John Bayley,
Joseph Hall,
Benjamin Niccolls,
John Jaques,
Bezaliel Toppan,
Nathaniel Jones,
Eben'r Virgin,
Thomas Wicomb,
John Peabody,

Ammi Ruhamah Wise, Jona. Hubbard, for

Jonathan Pulsepher,
John Ayer,
Thomas Perley, for
Nath'l Cogswell,
David Dodge,
Benja. Carlton,
Nath'l Page,
Edward Clark,
Ephraim Davis,
Stephen Emerson,

Daniel Davis,
Jacob Eames,
Joshua Bayley,
Richard Coolidge,
Isaac Walker,
James Simonds,
John Coggin,
Jacob Abbott,
Moses Hazzen,
Moses Bordman,

138

HISTORY OF COXCOED.

Ephraim Farnum, Andrew Mitchell,

Mr. Samuel Phillips, Benja. Gage,

Eben'r Eastman,
David Kimball,
Nicholas White,
John Merrill,
Samuel Grainger,

Nath'l Peaslee,
William Gutterson,
Enoch Coffin,
Richard Urann,
Ephraim Hildreth,

Benja. Stevens, Esqr., Thomas Colman,
Eben'r Lovejoy, David Wood,

William Barker, Joseph Hale,

James Parker, Nehemiah Carlton,

Nathan Fiske,
Zerobbabel Snow,
Nathan Blodgett,
John Pecker,
Richard Hazzen, jr.,
Isaac Learned,
Jonathan Shipley,
Edward Winn,
Nathan Simonds,
Obadiah Ayer,
Henry Rolfe.

Colonel Tyng. Colonel Eleazer Tyng, one of the committee, was
somewhat prominent in Lovewell's war. He has also been mentioned
as quartering at the "Irish Fort" in Penacook in 1725.

Lieutenant- Governors Wentworth and Dummer. At this time the
two provinces had one governor, Samuel Shute, who was absent in
England, and his functions were performed by the lieutenant-gover-
nors.

First Religious Service in Concord. More than one
hundred and seventy-three years later, or on the 26th
of October, 1899, a commemorative monument of Con-
cord granite, seven feet in height, and of becoming
proportions, was erected upon the table land directly
overlooking " Sugar Ball Plain," and the spot where
— in the words of the inscription — was " conducted
the first religious service ever held in the central part
of New Hampshire, on Sunday, May 15, 172().'" It
was erected by the five Congregational societies of
Concord. The movement
was initiated at the fifty-
sixth annual meeting of the
Conc< >rd Congre gational
Union, November 10, 1898,
when, upon a resolution
presented by Joseph B.
Walker, a committee of
five, one from each society.
was appointed upon the
subject, consisting of John
C. Thorne, Lyman I). Ste-
vens, diaries E. Staniels,
Charles II. Sanders, and

Monument to Commemorate First Service.

THE PLANTATION OE PENACOOK. 1-39

Fred A. Eastman. On the 2(3 th of February, 1899, the committee
recommended " the erection of a monument upon a suitable spot at
Sugar Ball, and that the sum of two hundred dollars be raised by
apportionment among the five churches." The report having been
adopted, and the committee authorized to carry into effect the recom-
mendations made, the work was completed ; Dr. Alfred E. Emery, of
Penacook, giving nearly an acre of land upon which to erect the mem-
orial stone. The introductory dedication exercises took place at the
monument, consisting of Scripture reading by the Rev. George H.
Dunlap of the East church, dedicatory prayer by the Rev. George H.
Reed of the First church, and benediction by the Rev. Nathan F.
Carter. Carriages were then taken for the East church, where the
remaining exercises were held. A poem, written for the occasion by
Harry A. Batchelder, of Melrose, Mass., was read by the Rev. Harry
P. Dewey of the South church ; an historical address was delivered
by Joseph B. Walker, and after dinner in the vestry, a sermon was
preached by the Rev. Henry M. Goddard of the West church, fol-
lowed by the rites of holy communion and the final benediction.

The Ford of the Soucook. It is said in the History of Pembroke,
that this ford was probably located " about sixty rods northerly from
the old PennyCook line, and about eighty above the old Head's Mills
in Pembroke."

Early Hai/stacking. Joseph Abbott, in a deposition taken in 1752,
during the Bow Controversy, testified that, the next spring after the
allotment of lands, those engaged in building the block house in Pen-
acook, " turned their horses to some stacks of hay, said to be cut
there by some of the admitted settlers the year before."

The Minister 's Lot. This was not " adjoining the land where the "
first " meeting-house stood," as would seem to have been literally
prescribed in the original grant.

An Ancient Vote. "Agreed and Voted — That threepence per tail
for every rattlesnake's tail, the rattlesnake being killed within the
bounds of the township granted at PennyCook, be paid by the in-
tended settlers ; the money to be paid by the settlers' treasurer, upon
sight of the tail." Proprietors' Records, Feb. 6', 1737.

The Flan Destroyed. Richard Hazzen was requested " to draw a
plan of PennyCook," to be annexed to the " town's books." " The
tradition is," says Dr. Bouton, "that he drew the plan, but, on
account of some misunderstanding about the pay for it, he burnt it
up."

Difficulties and Mishaps of Travel. It is related that Samuel Aver.
a young proprietor, once took a barrel of pork in a cart, drawn by six
or ten pairs of oxen over the road from Haverhill to Penacook, and

140 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

having reached Sugar Ball descent, succeeded in getting down with-
out accident, by taking off all but one pair of cattle, and fastening
behind the conveyance a pine tree so trimmed that its stubby limbs
would retard motion. But, in swimming the oxen to the west side
of the river, he lost one of them by drowning. The flesh, however,
being immediately dressed, the unfortunate animal afforded an acci-
dental supply of beef, as a variety to the contents of the pork barrel
which it had helped to bring forty miles over the rough road through
the wilderness. The anecdote is told of Captain Eastman that, on a
horseback journey to Haverhill, he bought a barrel of molasses, which
he intended by some means to bring home with him to Penacook.
He contrived what was called a " car," a conveyance made with two
shafts which were fastened to the horse and to a drag" on the ground.
With his barrel of molasses lashed to the car with ropes, on his
homeward journey he got along well until, having crossed Soucook
river, he had to ascend a high hill, near the top of which the horse
made a short stop. On a new start, the ropes gave way and the
barrel, in mad rush down hill, was dashed in pieces against a tree.

Enoch Coffin and Bezaliel Toppan. Mr. Coffin, as has been seen,
preached on Sugar Ball plain, at the first survey in 1726. He was
of Newbury, and died in the summer of 1728, at the age of thirty-
two. Mr. Toppan was, at this time, about twenty-two years old, and
a physician as well as a minister. He was a sou of the Rev. Chris-
topher Toppan, of Newbury, a clergyman of some note, who had taken
much interest in the establishment of the plantation. The tradition
exists that the son preached the first sermon after the settlement in
1727, under a tree, before the log meeting-house was built. He was
afterwards settled in the ministry at Salem, Mass., where he died in
1762.

The Ferryman's Abode. The house of John Merrill, the ferryman,
was at or near the junction of what were to be Turnpike and Water
streets, northerly of the gas works.

The First Blacksmith. The ten-acre lot of Cutting Noyes, the
blacksmith, seems to have been on the west side of Main street,
somewhat south of the modern Warren street junction. Pecker's
lot was No. 23 in the first range, and north of the modern Depot
street. (See plan appearing elsewhere in these notes.) Cutting's
forty acres were subsequently laid out on the east side of Main
street.

The Minister s Salary. " The late John Farmer, Esq., estimated
Mr. Walker's salary of £100, at $131.67 ; adding £20, it would be
-1156.83." Bouton's Concord, 97.

Rev. Samuel Phillips. This gentleman was an original proprietor,

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK. 141

and was much interested in the plantation. He wrote to the court's
committee, in 1726, requesting to be entered "as one of the proprie-
tors," adding : " I have sons growing up, and the land which I have
here settled upon is parsonage land." Two of those sons, John and
Samuel, together founded Andover academy ; while the former
founded Exeter academy and the professorship of divinity in Dart-
mouth college.

The " Twenty Acres " Division. No plan of this division has been
preserved. The lots were laid off in different parts of the township.
The original bounds are recorded in the Proprietors' Records, Vol.
II. Ten of the lots were laid off north of the Contoocook road-
extending from the north end of Main street into the neighborhood
of the West village ; ten on the Hopkinton road, in the vicinity of
the jail, westward of the Bradley monument ; and several west of the
" second range," on Main street. BoutorCs Concord (Proprietary
Records), 127.

" Emendation Lots." These lots were laid off in different parts of
the township, and in different quantities, in order " to make the
interval lots belonging to the proprietors equal as to quantity and
quality." The bounds are given in the Proprietors' Records, Vol.
II, but can scarcely be recognized at the present day. The division
was made between November, 1732, and December, 1731. Bouton's
Concord (Proprietary Records'), 109—110.

142

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

First Survey and Division of House and Home Lots on
the West Side of Merrimack River, in May, 1726, with
Plan.

Here follows the alphabetical list of the proprietors, with their
house and home lots, and the plan thereof, referred to in a note to
the text :

THE NAMES OF PROPRIETORS

Alphabetically Arranged, with the House and Home Lots, Laid Out
in May, 1726, and Severally Drawn in 1727.

[By reference to the accompanying plan, the exact location of each settler may be

ascertained.]

Names, Alphabetically
Arranged.

Number, Quantity, and
Range of House Lots.

No.

Quan.

Range.

Six-Acre, or Home
Lots, and Range.

No.

Quan.

Range.

Ed-

Abbot, Nathaniel

Austen, John

Ayres, Samuel

Ayres, John

Abbot, Jacob

Ayers, Obadiah

Barker, Zebediah, alias
ward Abbot

Blanchard, Thomas

Barker, William

Barker, Nathaniel, alias Sol-
omon Martin

Bayley, Joshua

Boardman, Moses, alias Jo-
siah Jones

Blodgett, Nathan ,

Bayley, John, alias Samuel
White

Clement, Nathaniel

Chandler, John

Carlton, Benjamin

Carlton, Christopher

Carlton, Nehemiah

Coolidge, Richard, alias Sam-
uel Jones

Coggin, John

Clark, Edward

Coffin, Enoch

Coleman, Thomas ...

Cogswell, Nathaniel

Day, Moses

Davis, Joseph

Davis, Samuel

Dodge, David

Davis, Ephraim

Eastman, Ebenezer

Eames, Jacob

Emerson, Stephen

Foster, John ...

12
7
5
2

12
5

If)
21
36

19
33

32
15

14
6
7

IS
5

7
36

S
3S
25
44
46

4
10

9
23

9
20

1.K

1)1

9.69
IK

\y„

iK
ij!

9.54

iK
IK
IK

IK
\%

W»

IK
IK

1'..
iK
^4
iK

Second Range.
First Range.
Island Range.
Island Range.
First Range.
L'w'st Range*

Second Range.
Second Range.
Third Range.

Second Range.
First Range.

First Range.
Second Range.

First Range.
L'w'st Range*
Second Range.
First Range.
First Range.
First Range.

Second Range,
Island Range.
First Range.
First Range.
Third Range.
First Range.
Third Range.
Third Range.
First Range.
First Range.
Second Range
Second Range
First Range.
First Range.

53
5

57
42
59

47
24

3
71

4
26

2
19

S
10
48

2
70
40

3
14

8.74
5.128
5.

9.16
6. 126

6.20

5.150

7.
6.104

6.96
6.

Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Island.
Island.
Great Plain.

Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Great Plain.

Great Plain.
Great Plain.

5.130! Great Plain.

6.66
5.110
5.128
6.94

10.

11*

7.104

5.128
8.50
4.100
6.93

5.73
5.32

<$%
5*

5.128
5.105

Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Great Plain.

Wat'n
Great
Island
Great
Great
Wat'n
Great
Wat'n
Wat'n
Great
Great
Great
Great
Great
Great

um. s.
Plain.

Plain.
Plain,
um.'s.
Plain,
um.'s.
um.'s.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.

* The Lowest Range was " The Eleven Lots," and (9 acres 69 poles) included House and
Home Lots.

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK.

143

THE NAMES OF PROPRIETORS.— Continued.

Names, Alphabetically
Arranged.

Number, Quantity, and
Range of House Lots.

Quan.

Range.

Six-Acre, or Home
Lots, and Range.

No.

Quan.

Range.

Farnum, Epbraim

Foster, Abraham

Fisk, Nathan, alias Zacha-

riah Chandler

Grainger, John

Grainger, Samuel

Gage, Benjamin

Gutterson, William

Heath, Nehemiah

Hildreth, Ephraim

Hale, Joseph

Hazzen, Moses

Hazzen, Richard

Hubbard, Jonathan, alias

Daniel Davis

Hall, Joseph

Johnson, Timothy

Jaques, John

Jones, Nathaniel

Kimball, Robert

Kimball, Samuel

Kimball, David

Lovejoy, Nathaniel

Lovejoy, Ebenezer

Learned, Thomas

Mattis, John

Merrill, John

Mitchell, Andrew

Minister

Nichols, Benjamin

Osgood, John

Osgood, Stephen

Parker, Benjamin

Page, Thomas

Peaslee, Robert. . .

Parker, Joseph

Parker, Nathan

Page, Nathaniel

Phillips, Samuel

Parker, James

Pulsipher, Jonathan

Peaslee, Nathaniel

Pecker, John

Page, Joseph

Peabody, John

Parsonage

Reynolds, Samuel

Rolfe, Henry

Sanders, John

Stevens, Ebenezer

Sanders, John, Jr

Sanders, Nathaniel

Stevens, Benjamin

Simonds, James

Simonds, Nathan

Shipley, Jonathan

Snow, Zorababel

School

1
22

8
27

3
10
29
31

6
43
18
24
22

4
40
20
27
19

1
11
11

8
37

3
26
24

8
34
25
28

1
23
29
37
41
16
45
13
17
21
32

2
31

5
35

9.33
H
ll

s!
n
n

9107

if
n

H
11

H
li
81
H
11

n
n
n
u

H
H
9k

H
if
u
n
u

n
H
u
1*
H

First Range.
Second Range.

Second

Eleven

First R

Island

Eleven

First K

First R

Eleven

Range

Lots.

ange.

Range.

Lots.

ange.

Lots.

First Range.
Eleven Lots.

First Range.
Second Range.
Third Range.
Second Range.
First Range.
First Range.
Island Range.
Third Range.
Second Range.
Second Range.
First Range.
First Range.
First Range.
Eleven Lots.*
Island Range.
Third Range.
First Range.
First Range.
Second Range.
Second Range.
Second Range.
Second Range.
First Range.
Eleven Lots.
Eleven Lots.
First Range.
Second Range.
First Range.
Third Range.
First Range.
Third Range.
Second Range.
Second Range.
First Range.
Second Range.
Island Range.
First Range.
Second Range.
Second Range.
Third Range.

9
64

65
62
41

8
21

10
45
37

1
11
62

103

4
43
34
13
51

1
11

1
49
20
39
69
28
38
22

17
32
27
50
10

9
54
58
15
30
5
5
31
66
61
60

5.130
4.50

4.152

7.60

4.96

5.93
2.114

6.
6.27

5.138
5.130
6.20
6.66
6.50
6.50
5.95
4.64
7.50
10.100
8.100
5.110
6.90
3.70

sy 2

6.62
5.16
6.20

6/z

7.128

7.50

7.40

6.48

5.90

6.120

6.90

5.130

6.20

7.140

5.100

5y 2

8.
6.140

.;••*,

6.28

Great Plain.
Great Plain.

Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Great Plain.

Great Plain.
Island.

Great Plain.
Great Plain.

Great Plain.

Island

Great

Wat'n

Great

Island

Wat'n

Great

Island

Wat'n

Great

Plain.
Plain,
um.'s.
Plain.
Plain.
Piain.

um.'s.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.

um.'s.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.

Great

Wat'n

Great

Island

Wat'n

Great

Plain.
Piain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain,
um.'s.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.

um.'s.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.
Plain.

* " The Eleven Lots " included House and Home Lots.

144

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

THE NAMES OF PROPRIETORS.— Concluded.

Names, Alphabetically
Arranged.

Number, Quantity, and
Range of House Lots.

No.

Toppan, Samuel
Toppan, Bezaleel. . . ,
Urann, Richard ....
Virgin, Ebenezer. . .

Wright, John

White, William

White, Nicholas.. . .
Wise, Ammi Ruha m .

Walker, Isaac

Wood, David

Whittier, William..
Wicomb, Thomas..
Winn, Edward

Mill Grant on Turkey River

Noyes Cutting Grant

Miil Grant to Nathan Simonds

2
11

14
34

Quan.

Range.

Ik
li
l£
li
li
9i
9.35

ii
li

Second

Third

Island

Second

Eleven

Second

Island

Range.

Range

Lots.

Range

Range.

Second Range
First Range.

Six-Acre, or Home
Lots, and Range.

No.

Quan,

Range.

5.36

6.104

5. 128

&}4

5.70

5.128

6.107

Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Wat'num.'s.
Island.
Great Plain.

Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Island.
Great Plain.
Great Plain.
Great Plain.

140 acres on Turkey River.
40 acres, east side of river,
100 acres on the east side.

[Main street,
and 10, 2d Range,

SECOND DIVISION OF INTERVAL MOSTLY ON THE EAST SIDE OF
THE MERRIMACK RIVER, SURVEYED AND LAID OUT IN MAY,
1727.

Here follow the tabulated allotments referred to in a note to the

text. They are recorded in the Proprietors' Records, Vol. I, pp.

29-43.

Mill Brook Interval— First Range.

No.

9.
10.
11.
12.

No
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Acres.

Edward Abbot 2%

John Foster 2*/ 2

Nehemiah Heath 2%

Ebenezer Lovejoy 2%

Samuel Ayer 2%

Stephen Osgood 2^

David Wood 4

John Grainger 5

William Barker 4>£

Timothy Johnson 4

Ebenezer Virgin ^]/ 2

Nathaniel Abbot \]/ 2

No. Acres.

13. John Chandler. 4

14. Bezaleel Toppan 4^

15. John Coggin . . 4^

16. Ebenezer Eastman 4J^

17. Samuel Davis \y 2

18. Nathan Parker 4J^

19. Edward Clark 6

20. Benjamin Stevens 6

21. Nehemiah Heath 3%

22. John Foster 3

23. Jonathan Shipley 4^

24. Nathaniel Jones 4^

Mill Brook Interval— Second Range.

Acres.

Abraham Foster 5

John Sanders 5

Thomas Wicomb 5

Nathan Blodgett 5

Minister 6

Parsonage 6

No. Acres.

7. School 5

8. Zerobbabel Snow 5

9. Edward Abbot 2^

10. Ebenezer Lovejoy 2 l / 2

11. Samuel Ayer 2%

12. Stephen Osgood 2%

No. Acres.

1. Benjamin Niccolls 3

2. Ephraim Farnum 2%

3. Nathaniel Lovejoy 2 x / 2

4. John Jaques 2j£

Sugar Ball Plain

No.
5.
6.

Acres.

Benjamin Carlton 2 l / z

Andrew Mitchell 2%

Stephen Emerson 2%

Thomas Colman 2 l / 2

THE PLANTATION OF PENACOOK.

145

No. Acres.
9. Ephraim Davis 2%,

10. Samuel Reynolds 5

11. John Ayer 6

12. Samuel White 5

No. Acres.

13. David Kimhall 5

14. Moses Day 5

15. John Pecker 2%

16. John Sanders 2%.

Middle Plain.

No. Acres.

1. Thomas Coleman 4

2. Ephraim Davis 3

3. Benjamin Niccolls 3

4. Stephen Emerson 2%

5. Ephraim Farnum 2%

6. Nathaniel Lovejoy 2%

7. John Jaques 2%

8. Benjamin Carlton 2%

9. Andrew Mitchell 2%

10. John Sanders, Jr 2>£

11. John Pecker 2y 2

12. James Parker 5

13. Robert Peaslee 5

14. Joseph Parker 5

No. Acres.

15. Jacob Eames 5

16. Samuel Grainger 5

17. John Mattis 5

IS. John Osgood 3

19. Ephraim Hildreth 3

20. Richard Hazzen, Jr 3

21. Benjamin Gage 3

22. William White 3

23. Nathaniel Clement 3

24. Obadiah Ayer 3 (?)

25. Jonathan Pulsepher 3

26. Nicholas White 3

27. Joseph Hall 3

28. Nathaniel Peaslee 3

Lowest Interval — East Side of the River.

No. Acres.

1. Nathaniel Peaslee 4|^

2. Joseph Hall 4%

3. Nicholas White 4%

4. Jonathan Pulsipher A%

5. Obadiah Ayer 4^

6. Nathaniel Clement A%

7. William White 4%"

8. Benjamin Gage 4^

9. Richard Hazzen, Jr 4^"

10. Ephraim Hildreth 4%"

11. John Osgood 5

12. Joseph Hale 2%

13. John Peabody 2%

14. Edward Winn 2%

15. Josiah Jones 2^|

16. Joshua Bayley 2)|

No. Acres.

17. Jonathan Hubbard 2%

18. Ammi RnMVise... 2%

19. Thomas Blanchard 2%

20. Moses Hazzen 2}Z

21. Isaac Walker 2%

22. Nathan Simons 2>|

23. Joseph Page 2%

24. Nathaniel Sanders 2%

25. John Wright 2%

26. Nathaniel Page 2%

27. Nathan Fisk, alias Zachariah

Chandler 5

28. Solomon Martin 5

29. Samuel Kemball 5

30. William Gutterson 5

31. John Merrill 5

Rattlesnake Plains.

No. Acres.

1. David Dodge 5

2. Samuel Toppan 5

3. Christopher Carlton 5

4. Nehemiah Carlton 5

5. Jacob Abbott 5

6. William Whittier 5

7. Thomas Page 5

8. John Austin 4

9. Henry Rolfe 4

No. Acres.

10. Benjamin Parker 4

11. Thomas Perley, for Nathaniel

Cogswell 4

12. Samuel Jones 4

13. Thomas Larned 2%

14. James Simons 2

15. Robert Kimball 2}/ 2

16. Joseph Davis 2Y 2

17. Richard Urann 3

Frog Ponds."

No. Acres.

1. Enoch Coffin 5

2. Samuel Phillips 5

3. Nathaniel Page 2y 2

4. John Wright 2)|

5. Nathaniel Sanders 2%

6. Nathan Simons 2%

7. Joseph Page 2%

8. Isaac Walker 2>|

No. Acres.

9. Moses Hazzen (?)

10. Thomas Blanchard 2%

11. Ammi Ru h Wise 2%

12. Jonathan Hubbard 2%

13. Joshua Bayley 2j^

14. Josiah Jones 2%

15. Edward Winn 2}/ 2

16. John Peabody 2%

146

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Nine Miscellaneous Lots.

Laid out to Nathaniel Abbot, " all that swamp betwixt his first division of inter-
val and Merrimack river, containing one acre and a quarter, more or less."

To Joseph Hale, two acres of swamp adjoining Abbot's.

To David Wood, one acre of swamp adjoining Hale's.

To Benjamin Niccolls, one acre of swamp adjoining Wood's.

To John Austin, one acre of swamp adjoining Niccolls.

To Ebenezer Stevens, four and a half acres of land, bounded on Benjamin Park-
er's lot, on one side, aud Horse Shoe Pond and the brook that runs out of it on
the other.

To William Barker, all that land lying betwixt the highway that runs by his
interval lot, and the brook that runs through Horse Shoe Pond, containing thirty-
five poles, more or less.

To Ebenezer Virgin, the land betwixt his first division of interval and the brook
that runs out of Horse Shoe Pond — forty poles.

To Timothy Johnson, the land lying betwixt his first division of interval and
Horse Shoe Pond brook — one acre and a half.

Badger's Plan of Proprietors' Lots, as laid out in I 726.
(Especially to be consulted in connection with pages 142-144. J

CHAPTER IV.

The Town of Rumfokd. — Falls Within Jurisdiction of New

Hampshire.

1734-1742.

As before suggested, Henry Rolfe made petition to the general
court of Massachusetts praying, "for himself and the grantees of
the plantation of Penny Cook " that " they might be heard to make it
appear — that they " had " fulfilled the conditions of their grant, and
that thereupon they " might " be allowed to bring in a bill to erect
the plantation into a township." Leave having been granted, the
petitioners, on the 9th of February, 1734, brought in the following
biU:

" An Act for erecting a new town within the county of Essex, at
a plantation called PennyCook, by the name of Rumford.

" Whereas, the plantation of PennyCook, so called, of the contents
of seven miles square and one hundred rods extending on the south
bounds the full breadth of said plantation, — which has by this court
formerly been and hereby is declared to lie in the county of Essex,
is completely filled with inhabitants, who have built and finished a
convenient meeting-house for the public worship of God, and some
time since have settled a learned Orthodox minister among them ;
and have, to full satisfaction, complied with all the articles and con-
ditions of their grant respecting their settlement ; and thereupon
have addressed this court to be erected into a separate and distinct
township, and hold and enjoy equal powers and privileges with the
other towns in the province :

" Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor, and Council and
Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same — That the plantation of PennyCook, in the county of
Essex, as the same is hereafter bounded and described ; be and
hereby is constituted a separate and distinct township, by the name
of RUMFORD ; the bounds of said township being as follows, viz.:
Beginning where Contoocook river falls into Merrimack river, and
thence to extend upon a course east seventeen degrees north three
miles, and upon a course west seventeen degrees south four miles,
which is the northerly bounds of said township ; and from other parts
of that line, to be set off southerly at right angles until seven miles
and one hundred rods shall be accomplished from the said northern
bounds ; and the inhabitants thereof be and hereby are vested and
endowed with equal powers, privileges, and immunities that the
inhabitants of any of the other towns within this province are or
ought by law to be vested or endowed with."

148 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

This bill was enacted into a law, on the 27th of February, 1734;
and the act of incorporation was confirmed by King George the
Second in 1737. But whence came the corporate name of the town-
ship is not known. " It is supposed," however, " to have been given
from that of a parish in England from which some of the proprietors
originated." *

The anniversary March meeting of the plantation of Penacook,
now at hand, was superseded by the first town-meeting of Rumford.
By order of the general court, Benjamin Rolfe had notified the
" freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Rumford lawfully
qualified to vote," to assemble at the meeting-house, on Monday, the
11th day of March, at "two of the clock in the afternoon — to
choose " town officers, "... and to do . other things

. thought proper for the interest of the inhabitants . . ." 2
At the meeting thus held, with Ebenezer Eastman as moderator,
and Benjamin Rolfe as clerk, the list of officers of the preceding
year was filled ; " a school " was provided for " so far as the money "
previously voted would go ; and consent was given for opening a
public highway, already laid out by the selectmen, extending from
the bridge, southward through " the Eleven Lots and thence to the
bend of the river." It was also " voted that the hogs in the town of
Rumford be not allowed to go at large but be shut up in inclosures,
for the year ensuing." The question whether swine should roam or
be enclosed was for some years following annually decided in town-
meeting.

But at this first meeting no money was raised for the " ministerial
charge and the other charges of the town for" the year 1734; a
special order of the general court being requisite to such action.
Benjamin's Rolfe's notification of the meeting contained no mention
of raising money, as, presumably, the court's order under which he
acted contained none. 2 Here was a hitch in the transition from
plantation to town, which was not removed till late in the year. In
November Ebenezer Eastman and Henry Rolfe were " chosen to
petition the General Court for an order . . . for raising money
for defraying the ministerial charge and the other charges of the
town for the year and during the court's pleasure." 3 The move-
ment seems to have been successful ; for, at a town-meeting held on
the 26th of December, 1734, "one hundred and ten pounds were
raised . . . for defraying the ministerial and school charge and
the other necessary charges of the town for the year current."

The transition from plantation to town having been effected,

1 Bouton's Concord, 141; Annals of Concord, 15.
s Town Records, 6.
3 Ibid, 11.

THE TOWN OF RUMFORD. 149

" The Proprietors of PennyCook," as they had hitherto been styled,
became henceforth known as " The Proprietors of the common and
undivided lands in the township of Rumford," and held their meet-
ings and kept their records apart from those of the town; as, indeed,
they had begun to do during the last year of the plantation. It was
not till 1734 that John Wainwright delivered the proprietary records
to Benjamin Rolfe who had succeeded him as clerk three years
before. He did so after the proprietors had granted him one
hundred acres of land in the township whose early settlement he had
efficiently promoted, and after " the inhabitants and freeholders "
had deputed their town clerk " to ask and receive of him the book
of proceedings." 1

The town and proprietary organizations, each performing its
appropriate functions, cooperated to promote the welfare of Rumford.
In 1735 the town added to its official list a surveyor of flax and
hemp, and sealer of weights and measures ; the former office continu-
ing for some years, the latter remaining permanent. The bounties
on wolves and rattlesnakes were continued ; as they were to be, with
little, if any, interruption till 1749 if not longer. An educational
appropriation was made so that " Deacon John Merrill and Mr.
James Abbott, or either of them, 1 ' might " hire a man to keep school,
four months, the next winter and spring." 2 The records show
similar provision to have been made for schooling in subsequent
years. Thus in 1739 the school was ordered to "be kept" from
October 20th to April 20th of the succeeding year; and in 1740,
from October 15th to April 15th, 1741. At the March meeting of the
year last mentioned the selectmen were instructed to hire a school-
master for the year ensuing, and to order when and where the school
" should be kept." Doubtless James Scales was teaching at this
time. He had been received, in 1737, "to full communion" with
the church in Rumford upon recommendation from the church in
Boxford, and, in 1739, was given " liberty to build a pew in the one
half of the hindermost seat at the west end of the meeting-house,
that is, next the window." 3

As hitherto and afterwards, highways within the town received
attention, both as to the repair of existing ones, and the acceptance of
those newly laid out by the selectmen. Of the latter was one —
accepted in 1736 — that led to Hale's Point, and was later to be
known as Ferry road, or street. It seems that there was early a
ferry at Hale's Point; 4 for in 1739 a new highway is described as
extending " from where they usually land the great boat coming from
Sugar Ball, to the highway that leads to the old fort." 5

1 Town Records, 13. s Ibid, 47. s Ibid, 50.

2 Ibid, 21. * Ibid, 27.

150 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

In 1735 provision was made to better the way leading outward to
the country below, in that portion of it between Suncook and Chester,
and an appropriation was made towards building a bridge over the
Suncook river, at or near the old ferrying-place, where a Penacook
boat had plied since 1729. 1 One third of the expense seems to have
been borne by Rumford ; another third, by the settlers of Suncook
who had come in to occupy the grant of 1727 ; and the remainder,
possibly, by Chester. 2 In a special Rumford town-meeting held on
the 10th of December, 1735, the pay was fixed for the men to be
employed in building the bridge, and a committee was appointed " to
take care that the," work " be well done." 3

The minister was remembered, in 1736, in a special appropriation
of fifty pounds to enable him " to clear a pasture and bring it to
English grass, that he " might " live more comfortable in his family
upon the account of a dairy than " hitherto. 4 The improvement of
the meeting-house also came repeatedly in order. Thus, in 1736,
Edward Abbott was " impowered to repair and fit up the seats,

make a door to the pulpit, and put up the windows "; and in
1738, Jeremiah Stickney and Benjamin Rolfe were ordered " to take
care that galleries be built." In 1738, also, Benjamin Rolfe, James
Scales, and John Chandler were made a committee " to fence in the
burying-place, according to the best of their discretion, at the town's
charge."

In November, 1739, from apprehension of Indian mischief a garri-
son was ordered to be "built around the Reverend Mr. Timothy
Walker's dwelling-house, at the town's cost "; and Mr. Barachias
Farnum, the miller on Turkey river, was granted five pounds " to
enable him to build a flanker to defend his mills," provided he should
"keep a garrison at his dwelling-house " in that vicinity — other-
wise, the " town " might " convert the flanker to its own use." 5

With these precautions against "savage men," measures were
taken, in December of the same year, to enforce the statute " for the
better preservation and increase of deer " —the mildest of wild
animals. At a meeting held specially for the purpose, " two meet
persons," Joseph Eastman and John Chandler, were chosen " to in-
form of all breaches of the act, and to take care that the violations
thereof be duly prosecuted and punished." 6 Subsequently, for some
years, a similar provision was made.

Meanwhile, " the proprietors of the common and undivided lands
in the township " were acting by themselves in meetings held in the
Rumford meeting-house. In 1735 they gave liberty to John Chand-

1 See note at close of chapter. 3 Town Records, 23. &Ibid, 47.

2 History of Pembroke, 95. * Ibid, 25, 28. " Ibid, 48, 49.

THE TOWN OF RUMFORD. 151

ler " to build a sawmill on Rattlesnake brook," — the outlet of Long
Pond, — and to have " a convenient yard for his logs and boards " ;
with the right " to flow the great pond " — these rights to be enjoyed
for fifteen years. This privilege, was not, however, to be improved
by Captain Chandler for a sawmill ; but, a little later, Capt. Henry
Lovejoy, 1 who, with Barachias Farnum, had erected mills on Turkey
river, came into possession of the premises, and built thereon a grist-
mill, and subsequently, a forge, or smelter, where bar iron was made
from ore obtained at the bend of the river southeast of the main
settlement in the vicinity of Merrill's ferry. 2 The proprietors also
disposed of the common meadow of the town for the year. In 1736
they ordered the six-acre lots of interval to be newly measured, with
new bounds, when necessary, and with new plans and a due record
made. On the 14th of March, 1737, they selected Benjamin Rolfe,
John Chandler, and Ebenezer Eastman, as a committee to lay out a
division of the common and undivided land ; the said division to be
as large as the good land would " allow of, and to be laid out to each
grantee or proprietor of Rumford, in one or more pieces, so as to
make the lot or lots equal in quality or quantity." This " Eighty
Acres Division," 3 — as it was called, — though the lots varied, according
to quality, from eighty to one hundred and fifty acres, or more, was
completed between the 11th of March and the last day of December,
1737 ; and the report of the committee was accepted at " a meeting
of the proprietors regularly assembled at the meeting-house in
Rumford," on the second day of February, 1738, and, with accom-
panying plans, was ordered to be " entered in the proprietors book."
The usual town-meetings of those days — both the annual in March
and the occasional ones — were held upon warrants issued by the
selectmen to a constable, setting forth the time, place, and objects of
meeting, and ordering him to notify accordingly, " the inhabitants and
freeholders." By virtue of the warrant, the constable placed " a noti-
fication of said meeting with the cause thereof at the meeting-house
door." In the case of a meeting for choice of a representative to the
general assembly of Massachusetts, the selectmen's warrant required
the constable " to notify the freeholders and the inhabitants " having
" an estate of freehold in land within the province ... of forty
shillings per annum at the least, or other estate to the value of fifty
pounds sterling, to assemble, . . . and elect," by a major vote,
some " freeholder and resident of the town " " to represent them in
the great or general court to be held for his Majesty's service at the
Court House in Boston." The first of such meetings in Rumford,

1 Granite Monthly, May, 1893.

2 Above the Lower, or Concord Bridge; Bouton's Concord, 546.
3 See note at close of chapter; Bouton's Concord, 128.

152 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

held on the 19th of May, 1735, was presided over by a moderator ; but
the subsequent ones had not this officer; "the selectmen regulating"
them " agreeably to law v —as the record stands. 1 At that first meet-
ing, as also at those held in 173(3, '37, '38, it was voted not to send a
representative. It would seem that, in thus waiving the right of rep-
resentation, the men of Kumford were satisfied with their custom of
employing special agents to bring their special wants to the favorable
attention of the legislature, without incurring the greater expense of
a regular representative. So, while declining, in 1736, to choose a
representative to the general court, they selected Henry Rolfe to
appear there as an agent, and " to use proper means to get the county
of Essex divided into two counties " — a division which they felt
would much promote their convenience.

The provincial boundary question, long pending, was still a burn-
ing one. After 1730, when Jonathan Belcher acceded to the gover-
norship of both provinces, and the death of Lieutenant-Governor
Wentworth soon after occurred, the question became complicated with
that of entirely separating New Hampshire from Massachusetts, by
giving the former province a governor of its own. Many of the most
influential political leaders in New Hampshire were earnestly bent
upon accomplishing this purpose, and were also strenuously urgent
for settling the boundary lines, — particularly the southern one, —
hoping thus to ensure to the province not only fixed but enlarged limits.
In this they carried with them the majority of the people, and, of
course, of the assembly. On the contrary, the leading men of Massa-
chusetts, with Governor Belcher himself and his friends in New
Hampshire, including a majority of the council, " were averse to
pressing the settlement of the line " ; 2 hoping for a permanent
" union " of the provinces, which they knew not how to effect.
" But the governor, as obliged by his instructions, frequently urged
the settlement of the lines in his speeches." 3 A fruitless conference
of committees from both provinces was held at Newbury in 1731 ;
after which a majority of the New Hampshire assembly " determined
no longer to treat with Massachusetts ; but to represent the matter
to the King, and petition him to decide the controversy." 3 In place
of Henry Newman, — mentioned in a former chapter, — whose com-
mission had expired, John Rindge, a wealthy merchant of Ports-
mouth, was appointed by the assembly as agent in England, and
entrusted with the petition to his Majesty ; but " the council, a
majority of which was in the opposite interest, did neither concur in
the appointment nor consent to the petition. Mr. Rindge, on his
arrival in England," early in 1732, " petitioned the King in his own

1 Town Records, 20, 30. 2 Belknap, 228. 3 Ibid, 229.

THE TOWN OF RUMFORD. 153

name, and in behalf of the representatives of New-Hampshire, to
establish the boundaries of the province ; but his private affairs re-
quiring his return to America, he did, agreeably to his instructions,
leave the business in the hands of Capt. John Thomlinson, mer-
chant, of London ; who was well known in New-Hampshire, where
he had frequently been in the quality of sea-commander. He was a
gentleman of great penetration, industry, and address ; and having
fully entered into the views of Belcher's opponents, prosecuted the
affair of the line, with ardor and diligence ; employing for his solici-
tor," the capable and untiring Ferdinando John Parris. 1 The two
proved more than a match for the Massachusetts agents before the
lords of trade, to whom the petition was referred. In 1733 Parris
moved the question, " From what part of Merrimack river the line
should begin? " In 1731 the attorney and solicitor-general, to whom
the question was referred, after hearing counsel on both sides, ex-
pressed the opinion, " that according to the charter of William and
Mary, the dividing line ought to be taken from three miles north of
the Merrimack, where it runs into the sea." Copies of this opinion
having been given to both parties, " the lords of trade reported, that
the King should appoint commissioners from the neighboring prov-
inces, to mark out the dividing line. This report was approved by
the lords of council." 2 Twenty commissioners having accordingly
been appointed " from among the councillors of New-York, New Jer-
sey, Rhode Island, and Nova Scotia, of whom five were to be a quo-
rum," 2 eight of the appointees — three from Nova Scotia, and five
from Rhode Island — met at Hampton on the 1st day of August,
1737, "published their commission," and "opened their court." 2
New Hampshire, by her committee of eight, — four of the council, and
four of the assembly, — promptly delivered her claim and demand in
the following words : " That the southern boundary of said province
should begin at the end of three miles north from the middle of the
channel of Merrimack river, where it runs into the Atlantic ocean ;
and thence should run on a straight line, west, up into the mainland
(toward the South sea) until it meets his Majesty's other govern-
ments. And that the northern boundary of New-Hampshire should
begin at the entrance of Pascataqua harbor, and so pass up the same,
into the river of Newichwannock, and through the same, into the
farthest head thereof ; and thence north-westward, (that is, north,
less than a quarter of a point, westwardly) as far as the British
dominion extends ; and also the western half of Isles of Shoals, we
say, lies within the province of New-Hampshire." 3

But Massachusetts was not ready to proceed, and the court ad-

i Belknap, 229. * Ibid, 239. » Ibid, 242.

154 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

journed for a week, to give her time. The court met on the 8th of
August, according to adjournment. The claim of Massachusetts was
presented by her committee of eleven — five of the council, and six of
the assembly ; one of the latter being Henry Rolfe, of Newbury, so
prominent among the proprietors of Penacook. The court having
ordered copies of the respective claims of the two provinces to be
drawn and exchanged, and having appointed as an additional clerk,
Benjamin Rolfe, the capable son of Henry, and one of Rumford's
most trusted citizens, adjourned till the 10th of August. The claim
put in by Massachusetts was for " a boundary line, on the southerly
side of New-Hampshire, beginning at the sea, three English miles
north from the Black Rocks, so called, at the mouth of the river
Merrimack, as it emptied itself into the sea sixty years ago ; thence
running parallel with the river, as far northward as the crotch or
parting of the river ; thence due north, as far as a certain tree, com-
monly known for more than seventy years past by the name of Endi-
cott's tree, standing three miles northward of said crotch or parting
of Merrimack river; and thence due west to the south sea." This
was the line noted in a previous chapter and steadily insisted upon
through many years. On the northerly (or easterly) side of New-
Hampshire, was claimed a boundary line, "beginning at the entrance
of Pascataqua harbor ; passing up the same to the river Newich wan-
nock ; through that to the farthest head thereof, and thence a due
northwest line, till one hundred and twenty miles from the mouth of
Pascataqua harbor be finished.'" 1

When the commissioners came together on the tenth of the month,
they had nine members in attendance ; for Philip Livingston appeared
from New York, and, " being senior in nomination, presided in the
court." They also had the assemblies of both provinces near by, in
accordance with the prorogation of the governor ; that of New Hamp-
shire meeting at Hampton Falls, and that of Massachusetts at Salis-
bury, five miles apart. The court then heard the case, which was
closely and sharply contested. The points in debate were : Whether
Merrimack river, at that time, emptied itself into the sea, at the same
place where it did sixty years before ; whether it bore the same name,
from the sea up to the crotch ; and whether it were possible to draw a
parallel line, three miles northward of every part of a river, the course
of which was, in some places, from north to south." 2 The contro-
verted points in respect to the boundary line between New Hamp-
shire and Maine, the latter then being a part of Massachusetts, were :
" Whether it should run up the middle of the river, or on its north-
eastern shore ; and whether the line, from the head of the river,

' Belknap, 243. Ubid, 245.

THE TOWN OF RUMFORD. 155

should be due northwest, or only a few degrees westward of north." *
The judgment of the commissioners as to the northern boundary line
of Massachusetts, or in other words, the southern one of New Hamp-
shire, was alternative and dependent upon the answer to the ques-
tion, " Whether the charter of William and Mary granted to Massa-
chusetts all the lands which were granted by the charter of Charles
the First." Since to this question they gave no answer, leaving that
" to the wise consideration of His Most Sacred Majesty in his privy
council," their judgment settled nothing. It merely suggested that,
with an affirmative answer to the question, the claim of Massachu-
setts should be affirmed : but that, with a negative answer, her claim
should be denied ; or rather, that the claim of New Hampshire should
be sustained except as to the initial point of the westward running
line, which, instead of being " three miles north from the middle of
the channel of the Merrimack where it runs into the sea," should be
" three miles north from the southerly side of the Black Rocks," sit-
uated three fourths of a mile farther north than the river's mouth as
claimed by New Hampshire.

As to the northern (or eastern) boundary between the provinces,
the court determined " That the dividing line " should " pass through
the mouth of Pascataqua harbor, and up the middle of the river
Newichwannock, (part of which is now called Salmon Falls), . .
to the farthest head thereof, and thence north, two degrees westerly,
until one hundred and twenty miles be finished from the mouth of
Pascataqua harbor, or until it meets with His Majesty's other gov-
ernments ; and that," furthermore, " the dividing line " should " part
the Isles of Shoals " between the provinces.

It is not desirable for present purposes, to pursue the obstinate
contention which ensued in England over the evasive decree of the
commissioners, and which, for more than two years, was carried
on before the board of trade and the lords of council, by the agents
of the two provinces — Thomlinson and Parris, for New Hampshire,
and Quincy, Wilks, and Partridge, for Massachusetts. It must suf-
fice here to record the final decree of King George the Second
in council, determining the long and vexatious controversy. This
was made on the 5th of March, 1740, and entirely ignored the much
mooted question, " whether the new charter " of Massachusetts
" granted all the lands comprehended in the old." It was deemed
equitable that the parallel line should extend at the distance of three
miles north of the Merrimack as far as that river flowed from west to
east, since, when the first grant was made, such was supposed to be
its entire course. " But, as on the one hand, if by pursuing the

1 Belknap, 245.

156 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

course of the river up into the country, it had been found to have a
southern bend, it would have been inequitable to have contracted the
Massachusetts grant ; so, on the other hand, when it appeared to
have a northern bend, it was equally inequitable to enlarge it."' 1
Therefore it was determined " That .the northern boundary of the
province of Massachusetts be a similar curve line, pursuing the course
of Merrimack River, at three miles distance, on the north side there-
of, beginning at the Atlantic ocean, and ending at a point due north
of Pawtucket Falls ; and a straight line drawn from thence due west,
till it meets with His Majesty's other governments." 1

Having thus established the southern line without regard to the
finding of the commissioners, the king affirmed their decree respect-
ing the northern line. The royal determination as to the southern
line gave to New Hampshire a tract of country, east of the Connecti-
cut, " fourteen miles in breadth, and above fifty in length, more than"
it " had ever claimed. It cut off from Massachusetts twenty-eight
new townships between Merrimack and Connecticut rivers ; besides
large tracts of vacant land, which lay intermixed ; and districts from
six of " its " old towns on the north side of the Merrimack." *

Rumford, one of the townships cut off, was loyal to Massachusetts.
It was but natural that its inhabitants should feel distrustful reluc-
tance to fall within the untried jurisdiction of a province whose
authorities had, in 1726, at the survey and allotment of Penacook
lands, forbidden them the premises, and a year later had spread the
township of Bow over the plantation itself, as an abiding, albeit as
yet a latent, menace of evil. So, as early as the 11th of June,
1740, the disquieted " freeholders and inhabitants " — now, for the
first time, exercising the right of choosing a representative to the
general court — elected Benjamin Rolfe to serve in that capacity,
and empowered him, in their name and behalf, "to prefer a petition
to His Majesty, that they " might " be quieted in their possessions
and remain under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts Bay." 2 In
Massachusetts, amid the disappointment and chagrin felt over the
royal decree, it was resolved to relieve the heavy blow, if possible,
by sending a new agent to England, " to petition the King that he
would re-annex to the Massachusetts government the twenty-eight
new townships which had been cut off, and the districts of the six
old towns. It was also thought prudent that the whole province
should not openly appear in the affair ; but that petitions should be
drawn by the inhabitants of these towns, and that the agent should
be chosen by them." 3 Accordingly, at a town-meeting held in Rum-
ford on the 26th of September, 1740, the inhabitants, being "in-

1 Belknap, 257. * Town Records, 55. s Belknap, 258.

THE TOWN OF RUMFOED. 157

formed that, by the determination of His Majesty in council respect-
ing the controverted bounds between the province of Massachusetts
Bay and New-Hampshire, they " were " excluded from the province
of the Massachusetts Bay to which they always supposed themselves
to belong, unanimously voted that a petition be preferred to the King's
Most Excellent Majesty setting forth " their " distressed estate, and
praying that" they might "be annexed to the said Massachusetts
province." "Thomas Hutchinson, Esq.," was "empowered to pre-
sent the petition to His Majesty " —the same having been signed
" in the name and behalf of the town " by " Benjamin Rolfe, Esq.,
Town Clerk." And it was also provided that if the said Hutchinson
should " refuse the service or otherwise be prevented from the same,"
the said Rolfe might make choice of some other suitable person. 1
Thomas Hutchinson, afterwards governor of Massachusetts, went to
England as agent, and there presented and urged the petitions; but
finding " Thomlinson too hard an antagonist," 2 he failed in his mis-
sion. For it was held "that it never could be for His Majesty's
service to annex any part of his province of New-Hampshire, as
an increase of territory to Massachusetts." 2

It remained " to run out and mark the lines." This work was
mostly done early in 1741, and exparte by New Hampshire, for the
Massachusetts assembly failed to join in appointing surveyors.
"George Mitchell surveyed and marked the similar curve line, from
the ocean, three miles north of Merrimack river, to a station north of
Pawtucket Falls, in the township of Dracut." 3 Richard Hazzen, a
proprietor of Penacook, and the surveyor of its lands in 1726 and
1727, beginning at the Dracut station, marked the line thence west-
ward, across the Connecticut river to the reputed eastern boundary
line of New York, twenty miles east of the Hudson.

The return of the lines to the board of trade was one of Governor
Belcher's last official acts ; for the opposition which, from various
motives, he had encountered during the boundary contention, at last
proved too much for him. In 1741 he was removed from office, and
was succeeded in Massachusetts by William Shirley, and in New
Hampshire by Benning Wentworth, a son of the lieutenant-governor
of a dozen years before. Thus the latter province secured what a
majority of its people desired — its own governor, having no connec-
tion with Massachusetts.

Rumford, in population, and in all the resources and advantages of
an intelligent, industrious, well-ordered, and consequently thriving
settlement, was the most important town in the valley of the upper
Merrimack. Not the least among its advantages were the services

1 Town Records, 57-8. 2 Belknap, 258. 3 Ibid, 259.

158 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

of its first regular physician, Dr. Ezra Carter, who came hither from
South Hampton, in 17-10, to contribute by skilful medical practice to
the welfare of his own community and of the neighboring region, and
by general ability and popular qualities to become prominent in the
civil affairs of his chosen settlement.

Rumford had Canterbury on the east and northeast, an original
New Hampshire township, then extending to the " crotch " of the
river, and sparsely settled. It had on the north, Contoocook, granted
by Massachusetts in 1732, and containing twenty-five families. 1 On
the west lay New-Hopkinton, or Hopkinton, with a few settlers,
— granted also by Massachusetts, in 1736, as "Number Five" in a
line of townships extending from Rumford to Connecticut river, and
somewhat overlapping the New Hampshire township of Bow, granted
nine years before. Suncook lay along the south. Highways con-
nected all the towns with Rumford, which was a center of dependence
for certain wants of the new communities. Especially was this true
of the first three. For the proprietors of Hopkinton contributed as
early as 1737 twenty pounds for the opening of a highway to Rum-
ford — a fact suggesting that Barachias Farnum's grist-mill was a con-
venient necessity. And later, in the Indian War, the prominent res-
idents of Contoocook and Canterbury, with some of Rumford, peti-
tioned the governor, council, and assembly of the province, setting
forth that they were " greatly distressed for want of suitable grist-
mills," and praying that soldiers might be provided to enable Henry
Lovejoy to maintain his garrison which he had been compelled to
abandon together with his mill on the outlet stream of Long pond,
" at a place," as the petitioners averred, " most advantageously situ-
ated to accommodate the three towns." 2 Rumford had eminently
prospered under the old jurisdiction, but was now inevitably com-
ing under a new, and the better the grace with which it should do
so, the better it might fare. Wisely declining, in 1741, to elect a
representative to the assembly of the Bay province, or to grant money
" to enable Thomas Hutchinson further to prosecute the affair " of
annexation thereto, 3 it became the next year a New Hampshire dis-
trict instead of a Massachusetts town.

Notes.

The Suncook Ford mid Ferry. It is said in the History of Pem-
broke, pp. 94-95 : " We think that . . . till the ferry-boat was
used in 1729, the river Suncook was forded somewhere south of the
present Osgood or Turnpike bridge ; and that the ferry-boat was put

1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 186. 2 Bouton's Concord, 175-6. 3 Town Records, 3-4.

THE TOWN OF RUMFORD. 159

into the river in 1729, below the falls, in deeper water, where the
banks are low, thus giving better opportunity to pass to and from the
boat.'''

The "Eighty Acres " Division. The lots were laid off, sometimes,
in different pieces, remote from each other. There were one hundred
and seven of them. " Plans of them are preserved in the Proprietors'
Records, Vol. Ill, with the roads and drift-ways reserved which ran
through them." Boutori's Concord {Proprietary Records), 128.

CHAPTER V.

The District of Rumford. — King George's War and its

Indian Hostilities.

1742-1749.

New Hampshire was not slow in extending jurisdiction over her
newly assigned territory. One step in that direction was the passage
of an act bearing date March 18, 1742, entitled "An act for subject-
ing all persons and estates within this province, lying to the east-
ward and northward of the northern and eastern boundary of the
province of the Massachusetts Bay (not being within any township)
to pay a tax (according to the rules herein prescribed) towards the
support of this government." This act provided that " all polls and
estates ratable by the laws of the province," and situate as set forth
in the title, should " be divided into certain Districts." One of these
comprised " that part of Almsbury and Salisbury which by the settle-
ment of the boundaries " fell within New Hampshire ; and another,
that part of Methuen and Dracut in like situation ; while Litchfield,
Nottingham-West [Hudson], Rumford, and a part of Dunstable,
constituted four others. 1

Under this law, with its additional enactments, Rumford, as one of
the districts, was subjected to the payment of an annual province tax,
and was also authorized to exercise usual town functions such as
holding meetings of legal voters, choosing requisite officers, and rais-
ing money to defray ministerial, school, and other municipal charges.
The last annual meeting of Rumford as a town proper — though
afterwards it was oftener styled town than otherwise — was held on
the 31st of March, 1742, nearly a fortnight after the district act was
passed, but almost a month before it fully went into effect. At this
town-meeting, Ebenezer Eastman was chosen moderator, and Benja-
min Rolfe town clerk, as they had uniformly been, at annual meet-
ings, with a single exception in the case of the former, since the
organization of Rumford as a town. Benjamin Rolfe, Ebenezer East-
man, and Jeremiah Stickney were elected selectmen, and George
Abbott was chosen constable. Choice was also made of the other
usual town officers. Among the items of business transacted was a
vote constituting " Edward Abbott, Deacon John Merrill, and Nathan-
iel Abbott a committee to take care and build a school-house for "the

i Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 183.

THE DISTRICT OF RUMFORD. 161

" town, as they " should " in their best judgment think best — the
said house to be built between the Widow Barker's barn and the
brook by the clay pits." This vote was followed by another, to raise
three hundred pounds " for defraying the ministerial charge, and for
a school, and for building a sclioolhouse, and for other charges of the
town." 1 The location of Rumford's first sclioolhouse, the erection of
which was thus provided for, is now uncertain ; but doubtless it was
on the main thoroughfare, not far to the southward of the locality
long known as " Smoky Hollow," through which ran the brook re-
ferred to in the foregoing* vote.

On the 27th of April, 1712, was held a meeting of the inhabitants
of Rumford, notified by the committee appointed in the district act to
call the first meetings in the several districts. The members of this
committee of three, — namely, Richard Jenness of Rye, George Wal-
ton of Newington, and Ebenezer Stevens of Kingston, — were present,
and opened the meeting. 2 The legal voters then chose, for modera-
tor, clerk, selectmen, and collector, — these being the officers required
by the new act, — the persons whom they had chosen in March as
moderator, town clerk, selectmen, and constable. These being quali-
fied by the committee, the organization of Rumford as a district was
complete. In primary intention, this organization was a temporary
expedient to secure a tax to the provincial treasury, and was to last
only till the district should be incorporated into a town by a proper
New Hampshire charter. 3 Under it the selectmen were to assess the
province tax at a proportional rate fixed by the general assembly,
from a sworn inventory of polls and estates taken by the clerk ; and
they were " to issue their warrant directed to the collector for collect-
ing or levying the same." 4

The committee of organization found, in Rumford and the other
districts, a cheerful acquiescence in the new order of things, and
reported to the assembly that "the people" of the "towns" visited
" were well satisfied and contented to be under the government of
New-Hampshire, and were under no dissatisfaction upon any ac-
count." 5 For the six years during which the district act remained
in force, by renewals, the people of Rumford met the obligations
which it imposed, and submitted to the taxation of the general
court " even without being privileged with a representative in said
court." 6 In 1741 they sought such representation, and in legal meet-
ing, held on the 11th of December, empowered Benjamin Rolfe, in
their name and behalf, to petition the governor of the general court

i Town Records, 64-66. 4 Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 97.

2 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 186. 6 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 185.

3 Town Records, 69.

6 Benjamin Rolfe's Memorials, June 27, 1744 and 1749; annals of Concord, 34-5-6.
12

162 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

to be allowed " to make a choice of some suitable person to serve for
and represent them in every session of the assembly." 1 The request
was favorably received by Governor Wentworth, who, with the ad-
vice of the council, directed, through the sheriff of the province, 2
" His Majesty's writ " to the selectmen of the " district of Rumford "
requiring them, " in His Majesty's name to notify . . . the free-
holders of said Rumford, qualified by law to elect representatives, to
meet at the meeting-house ... on Monday, the 21st of January
current at three of the clock in the afternoon, and then and there to
make a choice of some suitable person to represent said district in
general assembly to be convened and holden at Portsmouth on the
21th day of January," 1715. At the meeting held in compliance
with this precept, Benjamin Rolfe was chosen representative. 3 Thus
chosen, Colonel Rolfe — only recently in military commission — duly
appeared in the assembly, and took the customary oaths; as likewise
did four other gentlemen, elected from places hitherto unrepresented,
lint the members from places heretofore represented did not permit
the five to vote in the choice of speaker ; thus refusing them seats in
the house. They did this to resist what they deemed " an encroach-
ment on their privilege ; " 4 for they plainly declared to the governor
their conviction, "that no town or parish, not before privileged,
ought to have a writ sent it for choosing a representative, without
a vote of the house, or an act of the general assembly." 5 On the
contrary, the governor pronounced the action of the house in the
matter of the rejected members whom he had called to the assembly
"by the King's writ, issued by the advice of the council," to be " an
invasion of the prerogative of the crown," 6 and during an inter-
change of warm messages continued till the fifth day of the session,
he withheld the requisite approval of the choice of speaker. Then,
that the transaction of public affairs might not be hindered in a press-
ing time of war, — for King George's War was already on, — the gov-
ernor thought it best not to pursue his contention with the assembly,
but to approve of its choice of speaker, and thus suffer his new mem-
bers to be excluded till the king's pleasure could be known. 7 So
Rumford was not represented in the general assembly, which was dis-
solved in May ; and no attempt was made to secure representation in
the one elected to succeed it, which convened in June, 1715. Though
amid the urgent exactions of war-legislation, the contest as to pre-
rogatives and privileges had truce, yet the governor had not failed to

1 Town Records. 75.

2 Thomas Packer, of Portsmouth, who was high sheriff from 1739-1771; Prov. Papers, Vol.
V, 683 (note).

» Town Records, 77. fi Ibid., 264.

* Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 378. 7 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 264; Belknap, 301.

B Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 263.

THE DISTRICT OF KUMFOKD. 163

report to the king's ministry concerning his calling of the new mem-
bers and their exclusion from the assembly ; and " the ministry,
without any exception or hesitation, had pronounced his conduct
conformable to his duty." 1 In consequence he received, in 1748, an
" additional instruction," directing him, when another assembly
should be called, to issue the king's writ to the sheriff, commanding
him to make out precepts for a new election to the towns and dis-
tricts whose representatives had been before excluded ; and, further-
more, " to support the rights " of the new representatives when
chosen. 2 In accordance with this " instruction," the freeholders of
Rumford were allowed to choose, on the second day of January, 1749,
Captain John Chandler to represent them in the general assembly to
be convened at Portsmouth the next day. 3 This assembly was, by a
strong majority, opposed to Governor Wentworth, and numbered
among its members some bitter enemies who desired and sought his
removal from office. One of these, Richard Waldron, was elected
speaker; such representatives from the new places as were present
being debarred from voting. Thereupon the governor, in obedience
to his new " instruction," supported " the rights " of the excluded
members by negativing the choice of speaker, and directing the house
to proceed to another election, with no discrimination against the
right of members from new places to participate therein. 4 But this
the house would not do ; nor would his excellency yield. On the
12th of January the representative of Rumford appeared, but it was
voted that he should " not be admitted to the privilege of a seat in
the house until " he should " make it appear that the place for which
he was chosen had a right by law, usage, or custom of the province,
before the issuing of the king's writ, to send a representative to sit in
the general court." 5 And so Rumford was a second time debarred
from representation. The present quarrel, too, between the governor
and the assembly was more intense than that of three years before,
and, in the suspension of the French and Indian War, had a longer
run ; for during the three years of the assembly's existence under the
triennial act of 1727, it remained unorganized, and consequently in-
capable of transacting business, and was kept alive only by adjourn-
ments and prorogations.

The thread of narration now recurs to the beginning of the period
under review, and to that war to which allusion has been made, and
to facts connected therewith. The population of the Indian village
of St. Francis, in Canada, thirty miles north of the sources of the
Connecticut, was largely made up of shreds of New England tribes,

i Belknap, 304. * Prow Papers, Vol. VI, 71.

* Prow Papers, Vol. VI, 82; Belknap, 301. &Ibid, 77.

» Town Records, 102-3.

104 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

including Penacooks. Thence, hunting parties were wont to come
down into the valleys of the Connecticut, the Merrimack, and the
Piscataqua. Among those who roamed along the Merrimack and its
confluent waters would naturally be Penacooks, visiting the haunts
of their fathers. These visitations in time of peace between France
and England did not necessarily involve mischievous intent toward
white occupants of the soil, though quite likely to do so if the vis-
itants were of the Kancamagus stripe. At any rate, the presence of
Indians sometimes occasioned alarm to the white inhabitants, as it
did to those of Rumford in 1739, when, as will be recollected, pro-
vision was made for a garrison around the minister's house, and a
" flanker " for the mills on Turkey river.

Sometimes the red hunters — either those who came from Canada
or who still tarried about the frontiers — engaged in traffic with the
white settlers. On the 10th of October, 1743, one Coaus, for him-
self and other Indians, appeared before the governor and council at
Portsmouth, and desired " a truck-house to be placed near the river
Pemigewasset where they might have such supplies as were necessary,
[in return] for their furs, [and] that they might not be imposed
upon, as they often were, when they came into the lower towns/' l
The matter was subsequently laid before the assembly, and on the
22d of December, an order was made to send to Canterbury certain
articles suggested by Coaus, 1 such as rum, blankets, cloth for stock-
ings, linen for shirts, powder, shot, bullets, flints, knives, pipes, and
tobacco, which were to be exchanged with the Indians for furs.
James Scales, the former schoolmaster of Rumford, was designated
as the agent to effect the sales, and make return of the same to the
general assembly. 2 The project of establishing a truck-house near
the junction of the Pemigewasset and Winnepesaukee rivers was
before the assembly till late in February of the next year, and though
urged by the Indians, in another petition, and pressed by the gover-
nor, it was, filially, " at this critical time," made " to lie under con-
sideration." 3 This action proved the indefinite postponement of the
measure, for within a month came the declaration of a war, the exi-
gencies of which soon made more appropriate the granting of boun-
ties on Indian scalps than the building of Indian truck-houses.

In 1739 the peace of Europe, which had existed for twenty-six
years after the treaty of Utrecht, was broken by the war between
England and Spain, engendered by commercial rivalry. In 1741 this
war was merged in the War of the Austrian Succession. Charles the
Sixth, Emperor of Germany, who died in 1740, without male issue,

1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 95.

2 " Canterbury," in History of Belknap and Merrimack Counties, 222.

3 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 222-225.

"king George's wah." 165

had made a settlement of the succession in the imperial family, by an
instrument called the " Pragmatic Sanction," to which England,
France, and other great European powers had promised support. By
this sanction Charles was to be succeeded in his hereditary posses-
sions, including Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia, by his eldest
daughter, Maria Theresa, wife of Francis of Lorraine. Charles
Albert, Duke of Bavaria, asserting counter claims, resisted by arms
the daughter's accession, and Frederick the Second, or the Great, of
Prussia, pounced upon Silesia, an important portion of the Austrian
domain. Bourbon France, desirous of dismembering the Hapsburg
succession, broke her pledge to sustain the Pragmatic Sanction, and
sided against Maria Theresa ; England and France were thus auxilia-
ries fighting on opposite sides, but without declaration of war between
themselves. The great struggle was not yet ended, when France, on
the loth of March, 1744, declared war against England. This four
years' war within a war is conveniently distinguished as " King
George's War " ; for George the Second, both in the interest of his
English kingdom and that of his German electorate of Hanover,
actively and personally participated in the war of the Austrian Suc-
cession, even to appearing as a combatant upon its battle-fields. The
war was, in its transatlantic relation, a preliminary trial of strength
in the mighty struggle between France and England for supremacy
in America ; for the northern frontier of New England it meant war
with the Indian allies of France.

In common with the inhabitants of other frontier settlements, those
of Rumford received, late in May, definite intelligence of war declared.
The unwelcome tidings, while alarming the people, did not surprise
them, for orders had been coming from England to Governor Went-
worth, to have the province " in posture of defence," 1 but legislation
had slowly responded. Fortifying had been done at some points :
certainly at Canterbury, an extreme outpost, and possibly somewhat
at Rumford. 2 But when, on the 23d of May, the members of the
assembly, summoned by the governor's circular, convened in extraor-
dinary session, his excellency had this to say to them : " The naked
condition of our infant and inland frontiers requires your compas-
sionate regard. Consider with great tenderness the distress the
inhabitants on the frontiers are in at this juncture, and make their
unhappy condition your own." 3 The assembly forthwith advised the
raising of " two hundred men for one month, to be employed in cov-
ering the frontiers," and also authorized the offering of bounties for
Indian scalps. There was no delay in raising the two hundred men

1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 709.

2 Benjamin Rolfe's Memorial, cited hereafter; see Annals of Concord, 84.

3 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 709-10.

166 HISTOKY OF COXCORD.

and disposing them "for the benefit of the exposed frontiers " ; : but
the share of benefit which fell to Rumford the imperfect military
records do not disclose.

The anxiety of the people of the district was manifested nearly a
month later in a paper bearing date June 14, 1744, which was drawn
up by their minister, and signed by him and sixty-three other inhab-
itants of more or less prominence, comprising, in fact, nearly all the
heads of families in Rumford. 2 This paper, expressing the apprehen-
sion of the subscribers that they were " greatly exposed to imminent
danger from the French and Indian enemy," and declaring their " in-
ability to make a proper stand in case of an attack," contained the
appointment of Colonel Benjamin Rolfe as their delegate, " to repre-
sent " their " deplorable state " to the governor and general assembly
at Portsmouth, and " request of them aid, in men and military
stores."

Colonel Rolfe's memorial and petition bearing date of June 27,
1744, and presented to the provincial authorities under the above
mentioned commission from his fellow-townsmen, made a strong pre-
sentment of Rumford's claim to aid and protection from New Hamp-
shire, under whose care the town had been involuntarily cast through
the " long and importunate " effort of that province, and which, as a
district, had cheerfully met all the demands of its changed jurisdic-
tion. The cogent paper set forth " that many thousand pounds "
had " been spent " by the settlers of Rumford " in clearing and culti-
vating the lands there, and many more in erecting mansion-houses
and out-houses, barns and fences, besides a large additional sum in
fortifications, lately made by his excellency the governor's order ;
that the buildings " were " compact, and properly formed for defence,
and well situated for a barrier, being on the Merrimack river, about
fifteen miles below the confluence of Winnipishoky and Pemissawas-
set rivers, both which " were " main gangways of the Canadians to
the frontiers of " the " province ; that the breaking up of the settle-
ment " would "not only ruin the memorialists, but, in their humble
opinion, greatly disserve his majesty's interest, by encouraging his
enemies to encroach on his direlect dominions, and be all-hurtful to
the province by contracting its borders, and by drawing the war
nearer to the capital ; and that, war " being " already de-

clared against France, and a rupture with the Indians hourly ex-
pected," the "memorialists, unless they" had "speedy help," would
" be soon obliged to evacuate their town — how disserviceable soever
it " might " be to the crown, dishonorable to the government, hurtful

1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V. 713.

2 See facsimile of paper and signatures in notes at close of chapter.

"king George's war." 167

to the province, and ruinous to themselves. Wherefore they humbly"
supplicated " that such seasonable relief " might be granted them as
might " enable them to maintain his majesty's dominion in so well
situated a barrier, and so ancient and well regulated a settlement, as
well as secure their own lives and fortunes against the ravages and
devastations of a bloodthirsty and merciless enemy." 1

No immediate action, however, was had in the assembly upon this
urgent appeal ; 2 nor is it of definite record what protection, if any,
Rumford received during the summer and autumn of that year, from
soldiers recorded as stationed at several points, or from scouts sent
out in various directions. There is extant " a muster-roll of twenty
men under the command of Captain Jeremiah Clough, at Canterbury,
Contoocook, &c," as the original heading reads, scouting for two or
three weeks after the 80th of June. Possibly, Rumford may have
been included in the indefinite and abbreviated et cetera of the fore-
going description ; and also may have received slight incidental pro-
tection from the six men under the same captain, and described as
engaged, for three months from the 26th of September, " in scouting
from Canterbury, at the heads of towns, and keeping the fort." It
may be, too, that from the loss of muster-rolls, this seeming inade-
quacy of protection fur Rumford is somewhat greater than was the
real. But, after all, it stands a fact, that the town, originally estab-
lished by the government of Massachusetts, and strongly attached
thereto, though being the most important place on the upper Merri-
mack, was not, in those days, a favorite with the New Hampshire
authorities, and that, in respect to means of security against Indian
attacks, Canterbury, not merely from its more northerly position, but
because it had been, from the beginning, a New Hampshire township,
was much the more highly favored of the two.

The people of Rumford, however, understood the virtue of impor-
tunity, and, realizing the inadequacy of the means of protection
afforded them against the " hourly expected " attacks of the enemy,
they, on the 11th of December, 1744, in town-meeting, " desired and
empowered Benjamin Rolfe to prefer a petition to the governor or
general assembly of the province for such a number of soldiers as "
might " be sufficient with a divine blessing to defend " them " against
all attempts " of their enemies " which " might " be made against "
them. 3 And, evidently distrusting the aid which might be afforded
them by the government of New Hampshire, they also, at the same
meeting, " desired and empowered " the said Rolfe, " to represent to
the governor and general court of Massachusetts Bay, the deplorable

1 Annals of Concord, 84-5; Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 253 (note).
*Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 345-46.
3 Town Records, 74-5.

168 HISTOUY OF CONCOEt).

circumstances " they were " in, . . . being exposed to imminent
danger both from the French and Indian enemy, and to request of
them aid." 1 This time, in answer to the petition accordingly pre-
sented, Governor Wentworth ordered out, for about two months, a
scout of ten men for Rumford and vicinity, headed by Captain John
Chandler, commander of the second company of the Sixth regiment
of the provincial militia. 2 During the term of this scout, the new
assembly was convened, in which, as has been seen, the district of
Rumford was denied representation, and the vigilant inhabitants,
wishing for " constant aid," made provision, in a town-meeting held
on the 28th of February, to petition that assembly for continued mil-
itary assistance. 3 But nothing came of that petition. Therefore, in
another town-meeting, held on the loth of April, Colonel Rolfe was
" desired and empowered " to try again, and this time to petition the
authorities of Massachusetts as well as those of New Hampshire. 4
The faithful agent did as desired. In his memorial petition, dated
April 30th, and presented to the New Hampshire assembly on the
second day of May, he offered substantially the same case as in that
laid before the previous assembly, in June, 1744, though he enforced
the suggestion of an early evacuation of the settlement, unless speedy
help were rendered, by declaring that many of the inhabitants, in their
alarm, had already moved from the town. 5 Being " sent for into the
house," he appeared in support of the petition, expressing the opinion
that less than forty men would not be sufficient for Rumford, and if
there should be an open war with the Indians, more would be wanted. 6
No definite action, however, was taken upon the matter, probably be-
cause the life of the assembly was cut short a few days later by disso-
lution. 6 But the two appeals made to the general court of Massachu-
setts were favorably answered in the sending of a few men from
Andover and Billerica, who were stationed awhile at Rumford. 7

Meanwhile, the greatest achievement of English arms in King
George's War had been mainly accomplished by a force of volunteer
New England militia. This was the reduction of Louisburg. In
May, 1744, the French, with their Indian allies, had made hostile
demonstrations against the English in Nova Scotia and Newfound-
land. They had the stronghold of Louisburg on the island of Cape
Breton, away to the eastward, six hundred miles from Portsmouth.
This fortress had been twenty-five years in building, and was deemed
well-nigh impregnable. " It was in peace," says Belknap, " a safe
retreat for the ships of France bound homeward from the East and

iTown Records, 74-5.

2 Adjutant-General's Report, 1866, Vol. II, 60-1; Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 232.
» Town Records, 78. ,; Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 322.

* Ibid, 83. 7 Bouton's Concord, 153.

« Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 317-8.

"KING GEOEGE^S WAR." 169

West Indies, and in war a source of distress to the northern English
colonies ; its situation being extremely favorable for privateers to
ruin their fishery, and interrupt their coasting and foreign trade." 1
Hence, during the autumn of 1744, and the succeeding winter and
spring, an expedition against Louisburg was prepared and manned.
Governor Shirley of Massachusetts was prominent in the movement,
and found in Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire a ready coad-
jutor, — though the plan is thought to have been originated by
William Vaughan, of New Hampshire birth, who was largely con-
cerned in the fishery on the eastern coast. 2 The enterprise generated
enthusiasm in the popular mind, both from its incitement to the spirit
of adventure, and from the more solid considerations, that the wel-
fare, if not the very being, of the province depended greatly upon the
reduction of that place ; as, if it continued " under the French, it "
would, " in all probability, enable them in a little time to reduce Port
Royal, 3 . . . with fatal consequences to all the English settle-
ment upon the sea-coast as well as to the inland towns by the priva-
teers infesting the one and the Indians destroying the others ; " and
that, " on the other hand, if Louisburg were in the possession of the
English they would thereby have almost all the fish trade in their
own hands, which would give life and vigor to all branches of trade
they " were " concerned in, and revive all sorts of business, with
many other advantages too numerous to be particularized ; " and,
farther, that it was " very probable that if " the inhabitants of the
province should " neglect to fight " their " enemies at that distance,
and in their own territories," they would " be obliged to do it nearer
home, if not in " their " own towns." 4

New Hampshire supplied five hundred of the four thousand men
enlisted from the four New England colonies. Rumford contributed
its quota, of which were Captain Ebenezer Eastman, Isaac and
Nathaniel Abbott, Obadiah Peters, and one Chandler. 5 These are
the only names preserved — and they by tradition — for the official
enrolment has disappeared, which would probably increase the list.
Of these volunteers, Isaac Abbott was killed during the siege, and
Chandler died of disease. 5 It is a fact, too, that Captain Eastman
went the second time to Louisburg 5 the next year, but upon what
duty is not known. It is said that he did special service in the siege
under Lieutenant-Colonel Vaughan, 6 who, though declining a regular
command, led in some of the boldest and most decisive operations of
the unique siege, and the Rumford captain must have had with him
a full share of perilous work. He had been present in his }'ounger

1 Belknap, 268. * Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 286.

2 Ibid, 269. s Bouton's Concord, 152.
s Annapolis in Nova Scotia. ° Annals of Concord, 29.

170 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

days at the capitulation of Port Royal, in Nova Scotia, to the Eng-
lish, and had share in the dangers of the ill-fated expedition against
Canada, and now with the loyal pride of an English colonist, he wit-
nessed on the 17th of June, 1745, the surrender of Louisburg — the
pride and strength of French dominion in America.

After the fall of Louisburg, the Indian allies of the French began
their dreaded work on the frontiers of New Hampshire, in an attack,
on the 5th of July, 1745, at "The Great Meadow," or Westmore-
land, in the Connecticut valley. Among the scouts ordered out in
consequence was a party of cavalry under Captain Peter Pattee of
Londonderry, for service in the valley of the Merrimack. 1 Another
attack being made at Westmoreland, on the 10th of October, one of
the scouts sent out by Governor Wentworth into the Merrimack val-
ley consisted of thirty-seven men in command of Captain John Goffe
of Bedford, and was employed from December, 1745, till April of the
next year. To this scout belonged Rumford men, of whom were
Samuel Bradley, John Webster, and Ebenezer and Joseph, sons of
Captain Ebenezer Eastman. 2

As early as 1744 — possibly somewhat earlier — the work of put-
ting the settlement in posture of defense, by fortification, was begun. 3
This work was continued till, on the 15th of May, 1746, "the com-
mittee of militia," consisting of Joseph Blanchard, Benjamin Rolfe,
and Zacheus Lovewell, appointed by Governor Wentworth " for set-
tling the garrisons in the frontier towns and plantations in the sixth
regiment of militia . . . having viewed the situation and en-
quired into the circumstances of the district of Rumford," appointed
and stated the garrisons. 4 These structures, sometimes called forts,
consisted each of a dwelling-house, with an area of " several square
rods," surrounded by walls of " hewed logs," laid " flat upon each
other " with ends " fitted for the purpose," and " inserted in grooves
cut in large posts erected at each corner." The wall was built " to
the height of the roof of '" the dwelling-house around which it was
reared, and was surmounted, at " two or more corners," by sentinel
boxes. In the enclosed areas were erected, " in some cases, small
buildings for the temporary accommodation of families." All this
work of fortifying was done at the expense of the inhabitants ; but
the garrisons duly established were entitled to military support from
the province.

Seven garrisons around the houses of as many proprietors were
appointed by " the committee of militia " before mentioned, to be reg-

1 Adjutant-General's Report, 1866, Vol. II, 77.
* lb id, 79.

3 Benjamin Rolfe's Memorial, June 27, 1744.
*Bouton's Concord, 154.

172 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ular " garrisons in Rumford." The following summary record of
" the inhabitants " who, " with their families," were assigned to these
several garrisons designated by the names of the owners of the prem-
ises upon which they were located, has intrinsic interest, and affords
a suggestive view of Rumford's population, as to number and distri-
bution, in the year 1 746. To promote clearness of description, the
sites of the forts, as identified for 1900, are given in connection : (1)
To Reverend Timothy Walker's garrison, on east side of Main street,—
the residence of Joseph B. Walker, — Capt. John Chandler, Abraham
Bradley, Samuel Bradley, John Webster, Nathaniel Rolfe, Joseph
Pudney, Isaac Walker, Jr., Obadiah Foster. (2) To Lieutenant
Jeremiah Stickney's garrison, on the east side of Main street north of
Bridge street, on ground partially covered by Stickney's new block,—
Jeremiah Stickney, Nathaniel Abbott, Ephraim Carter, Ezra Carter,
Joseph Eastman, Samuel Eastman, Joseph Eastman, 3d, William
Stickney, Thomas Stickney, Nathaniel Abbott, Jr., Joseph Carter,
Edward Abbott, Aaron Stevens, George Hull, Edward West, Sampson
Colby, James Osgood, Timothy Clemens, Jacob Pillsbury, Stephen
Hoit. (3) To Timothy Walker, Jr.'s, garrison, on the west side of
Main street, near its junction with Thorndike street, — Timothy
Walker, Jr., David Evans, Samuel Pudney, John Pudney, Jr., Mat-
thew Stanley, Isaac Walker, Abraham Kimball, Richard Hazelton,
George Abbott, Nathaniel Rix, Benjamin Abbott, Stephen Earring-
ton, Nathaniel West, Wiliiam Walker, Aaron Kimball, Samuel
Gray, James Rodgers, Samuel Rodgers. (4) To Deacon Joseph
Hall's garrison, near the junction of Hall and Water streets, south
of the highway bridge crossing the Concord railroad near the gas-
works, and a short distance northwest of the Rolfe and Rumford
Asylum, — Colonel Benjamin Rolfe, Joseph Hall, Ebenezer Hall,
David Foster, Isaac Waldron, Patrick Garvin, Moses Merrill, Lot
Colby, Joseph Pudney, William Pudney, Henry Pudney, John
Merrill, Thomas Merrill, John Merrill, Jr., Jacob Potter. (5) To
Henry Lovejoy's garrison in West Parish, on the height between
Rattlesnake brook and the road leading westward along Long pond,
and sometimes known as the "Levi Hutchins Place,"- -Henry Love-
joy, James Abbott, James Abbott, Jr., Reuben Abbott, Amos Abbott,
Ephraim Farnum, Zebediah Farnum, Joseph Farnum, Abial Chand-
ler, James Peters. (6) To Captain Ebenezer Eastman's garrison,
on the east side of the river, near the site of the present railroad sta-
tion, — Ebenezer Virgin, Ebenezer Eastman, Jr., Philip Eastman, Jer-
emiah Eastman, Timothy Bradley, Nathaniel Smith, Daniel Annis,
Jeremiah Dresser, Philip Kimball, Nathan Stevens, Judah Trumble,
Joseph Eastman, Jr., William Curey. (7) To Jonathan Eastman's

INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 173

garrison, on the south side of the Hopkinton road at Millville, a short
distance southeast of the point where the old road from Long pond
comes into the former, — Jonathan Eastman, Amos Eastman, Jeremiah
Bradley, Seaborn Peters, Abner Hoit, Jacob Hoit, Timothy Bur-
banks, Isaac Citizen.

There was also a garrison around the house of Edward Abbott, at
the southeast corner of the present Montgomery and Main streets ;
another around James Osgood's tavern, — the first in the settlement,—
on the east side of Main street, at the southeast corner of its junc-
tion with Depot street ; and still another around the house of George
Abbott, on the modern Fayette street, not far from its junction with
Main. The committee did not appoint the last three to be " standing
garrisons " ; but the occupants, inasmuch as they had " made no pro-
vision for house room and conveniences in the respective garrisons
where they " had been " placed, and the season of the year so much ''
demanded " their labor for their necessary support, that " it was
" difficult to move immediately," were allowed to remain where they
were •" until further orders." And they were required, " as long as
there stated, to attend to the necessary duty of watching, warding,
&c, as if " those houses " had been determined standing garrisons." 1

In the stress of danger from Indian attack, the persons " stated "
at the garrisons left their own houses, and repaired thither. Men
labored in the field, in companies, whenever practicable, with guns at
hand, and not infrequently with a mounted guard. Three alarm guns
from a fort announced approaching mischief, and put the settlement
on the alert. Every Sabbath the men went armed and equipped to
the log meeting-house, itself a fort, and stacking their muskets around
the center post, sat down to worship " with powder-horn and bullet-
pouch slung across their shouldiers," 2 while Parson Walker officiated,
with his gun — the best in the parish — standing beside him in the
pulpit.

Early in 1746 the red allies of the French resumed hostile opera-
tions all along the New Hampshire frontiers. Though the inhabitants
and the government were on the alert ; though garrisons were guarded
at the public expense, and scouting parties were continually " scour-
ing the woods " ; though a heavy scalp or captive bounty was set
upon every hostile " male Indian " upward of twelve years of age,
the wily foe, escaping detection, scored frequent successes. On the
27th of April, the Indians appeared in the Merrimack valley, taking-
eight captives at Woodwell's garrison in Hopkinton. Shortly, Cap-
tain John Goffe, in fruitless pursuit of the adroit enemy, appeared in
Rumford, at the head of fifty men, having for special destination

1 Bouton's Concord, 154-156.

174 HISTORY OF COXCOED.

" the Pemidgewasset, Winnipisseoca, and the great carrying place in
the adjacent country," with " Canterbury his rendezvous." While
at Rumford he hears of an attack at Contoocook, in early May, in
which two men were killed and another was captured. " With all
expedition " he proceeds to " do what " he " can to see the enemy."
In his indignant anxiety, and before going " up to Contucook," the
zealous captain writes to Governor Wentworth, from " Pennecook,
about 2 of the clock in the morning, May 5th, 1746," as follows :
" The Indians are all about our frontiers. I think there was never
more need of soldiers than now. It is enough to make one's blood
boil in one's veins to see our fellow-creatures killed and taken upon
every quarter. And if we cannot catch them here, I hope the gen-
eral court will give encouragement to go and give them the same play
at home." 1 Evidently, in his last suggestion, the good captain had
in view the expedition against Canada, which was then on foot, and
for which eight hundred men were enlisted in New Hampshire, but
which, for various reasons, was given up.

The summer was passing ; the people of Rumford were in constant
apprehension; no one knew when or where the lurking savages
might strike. Any thicket might be his ambuscade ; and from any
wooded covert he might dart to kill or captivate. The imminence of
peril is attested by the fact that about this time several Indians — as
they testified after peace — secreted themselves at night in windrows
of new hay upon the premises of Dr. Ezra Carter, near the site of
what was to become the " State House Park,*' with the intention of
surprising the owner when he should resume hay-making the next
day. But a long rain setting in early in the morning, they left their
ambush and gave up their meditated attack ; " conceiving the Great
Spirit to have sent the rain " for the protection of their intended vic-
tim. 2

In July Captain Daniel Ladd of Exeter enlisted a company of
about fifty men for scout duty at Canterbury, Rumford, and the
neighborhood. The company had done this duty and returned to
Exeter, where the men furloughed till the 5th of August. Reassem-
bling on that day, they returned northward. On the 7th, when near
Massabesic pond, Captain Ladd turned aside, with about thirty of
his command, upon a reported trail of twelve or fifteen savages in
Chester, leaving Lieutenant Jonathan Bradley and the rest of the
company to continue their march to Rumford ; where some tarried
in garrison, and whence others went to Canterbury. Captain Ladd
came in with his detachment on Sunday, the 10th of August. 3

1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 800.

* Annals of Concord, 35.

* Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II, 93.

INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 175

Indians of St. Francis, — it is supposed, — from fifty to a hundred
in number, were already hovering about the settlement, awaiting an
opportunity to do the most harm to the inhabitants with the least
risk to themselves. They had seen Lieutenant Bradley's force
divided, and a part sent to Canterbury, and relying on the inade-
quacy of military protection, they seem to have determined to attack
the people while at church the coming Sabbath. On the night of
Saturday, the 9th of August, parties of them secreted themselves in
the vicinity of the meeting-house ; some hiding a short distance
southeast of it, among alders beyond the road, and others in bushes
to the northwest between it and the intersection of the present State
and Franklin streets. The people went to meeting on Sunday as
usual — the men all armed. Captain Ladd, too, as has been seen,
came into town with his detachment of thirty scouts. On the whole,
the "posture of defense" was unexpectedly too strong. This is, at
least, a probable reason why no attack was made that day. During
worship a glimpse of lurking red faces was caught by Abigail, the
young sister of Dr. Ezra Carter ; but she did not disturb the ser-
vice by revealing the discovery until the meeting closed, and the con-
gregation dispersed unharmed.

The savages then took position in a body a mile and a half south-
west of the main settlement, in the covert of a deeply wooded valley,
not far south of the Hopkinton road. As Jonathan Eastman's gar-
rison was farther westward along that road, they may have thought
it likely that some of Captain Ladd's men would soon be going to that
fort, and that they might waylay the dreaded scouts. In that covert
they were lying in ambush on the morning of Monday, the 11th of
August, when the opportunity which they sought came to them. For
Lieutenant Jonathan Bradley, with seven companions, set out for
Eastman's fort in the early hours of that bright hay-day, intending
to return by noon, " in order to go to Canterbury in the afternoon, or
at least to get fit to go." J Six of the lieutenant's seven companions
— Samuel Bradley, Sergeant Alexander Roberts, William Stickney,
Daniel Grilman, John Lufkin, and John Bean — were members of
Captain Ladd's company ; the seventh, Obadiah Peters, belonged to
Captain Nathaniel Abbott's company of Rumford militia. The party
took a path, or road, extending westward along the course of the
modern Franklin street, and bending somewhat abruptly southward
into the "old Road " (or High street), and finally coming out upon
the Hopkinton road (or Pleasant street). This last the main party

1 Journal of Abner Clough, clerk of Captain Ladd's company. This journal and the nar-
rative of Reuben Abbot, both published in the fourth volume of the Collections of the New
Hampshire Historical Society, supply the main facts as to the massacre; and the direct
quotations therefrom are carefully marked in the text.

176 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

pursued to a locality about a mile and a half from the meeting-house ;
but Daniel Gilman went ahead some rods, to shoot a hawk seen at
a distance. Him the savages let pass, probably not wishing to spoil
a better chance at the seven men following leisurely. As these men
approached the ambush three shots were fired upon them. Gilman
heard them, but supposed at first that his companions had " shot at a
deer/" l He ran " back about forty rods upon a hill so that he could
see over upon the other hill where the Indians lay, and shot upon the
men, and heard Lieutenant Jonathan Bradley say, ' Lord, have mercy
on me — fight ! ' '" 1 The lieutenant and three of his men fired ; " and
then the Indians rose up and shot a volley, and run out into the path
making all sorts of howling and yelling." 2 Whereupon Oilman " did
not stay long," 1 but hastened to bear the fearful tidings to Eastman's
fort a mile away.

Lieutenant Bradley, supposing that the few Indians who fired
first comprised the whole force, thought that " he and his six men
could manage them," 2 and therefore he gave the order to fight,
and return the fire ; but when this fire was answered by a volley
from so large a body, " he ordered his men to run and take care of
themselves." a But already four of them — Obadiah Peters, John
Bean, John Lufkin, and Samuel Bradley — had received death shots.
" The Indians then rushed upon Jonathan Bradley, William Stick-
ney, and Alexander Roberts — took " the last two prisoners, and
offered Bradley " good quarter. But he refused to receive quarter "
from foes of a race whose mercy to his ancestors and relatives, in
former wars, had been but cruelty, and fought stiffly, — albeit with
strength somewhat diminished by recent sickness, — against that
cloud of Indians, until, with face smitten by tomahawk blows, and
gashed with knives, and with skull fractured, he was brought to the
ground, and there despatched, scalped, and " stripped nearly naked."
His younger brother, Samuel, had already perished, shot through the
lungs ; but fell only after running five rods along the path, while
" the blood started every step he took." 3 It was a common saying
in those days, verified in the case of these brothers, " It takes a hard
blow to kill a Bradley."

The fight was over ; the corpses of five brave white men lay man-
gled and despoiled. Only one of the enemy was then known to
have been slain, and he — as supposed — by the undaunted lieuten-
ant. But when Alexander Roberts escaped and returned from cap-
tivity, the next year, he reported four Indians killed and several
wounded, — two mortally, who were carried away on litters, and soon

1 Clough's Journal.

2 Reuben Abbot's Narrative.

3 Clough's Journal and Abbot's Narrative.

INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 1 I i

after died. The Indians buried two of their dead in the Great
Swamp, under large hemlock logs, and two others in the mud, some
distance up the river, where their bones were afterward found. 1 The
guns were not heard in the main settlement, "because the wind was
not fair to hear," and it was more than an hour afterward that there
came a post down from Eastman's fort with the startling intelli-
gence. Then three guns, — the appointed signal of alarm, — tired at
Walker's fort, sent soldiers and others to the scene of the tragedy.
Reuben Abbot and Abial Chandler at work making hay in the Fan,
near Sugar Ball, ran, on hearing the alarm guns, up to the garrison,
and found the soldiers who were stationed there, and such men as
could be spared, had gone to where the men were killed. 1 They
followed, and taking the foot-path somewhat diagonal to the regular
route, and lying partly along the course of what subsequently be-
came Washington street, arrived at the spot where the bodies lay as
soon as those who went round on the main road. 2 But the arrival
of the soldiers and others was too late for vengeance ; at their ap-
proach the Indians fled like cowards, leaving their packs and various
things which the soldiers took. 2 The woods were ranged awhile
after for the captives, 3 but in vain. The bodies of the dead were
collected. Samuel Bradley was found in the wood " on the east
side of a brook running through the farm formerly owned by one
Mitchell, — stripped naked, scalped, and lying on his face in the road,
within half a rod of the bridge over that brook." His brother
Jonathan lay "about ten feet out of the road, on the south side,
and about two rods east of the brook. Obadiah Peters" was found
in the road shot through the head. Bean and Lufkin had run from
the brook toward the main road about six rods, and fallen within a
rod of each other on the north side of the road as traveled 2 in later
days. The bodies of the dead were laid side by side in a cart, which
had been sent with a pair of oxen from Eastman's fort ; and, as all
others refused the gruesome task, Reuben Abbot, then twenty-four
years of age, drove the rude ambulance, under guard of soldiers and
inhabitants, to James Osgood's garrison. There an excited and sor-
rowing multitude received the sad procession. " They wept aloud ; "
and " mothers lifted up their children to see the dead bodies in the
cart." 4 The widow of Samuel Bradley, overwhelmed with anguish,
was there with her little son, John, less than three years old, who
retained, through a long, useful, and honored life, a vivid impression
of the ghastly scene — an impression so strong that a terror of the
Indians haunted him for many years. 4 The next day came an im-

1 Bouton's Concord, 165. 3 Clough's Journal.

2 Reuben Abbot's Narrative. * Bouton's Concord, 161.

»3

178 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

pressive funeral, and the dead were buried in two graves near the
northwest corner of the old burying-ground ; the Bradley s in one,
Lufkin, Peters, and Bean in another. 1

The Bradleys slain were sons of Abraham Bradley, a useful and
trusted citizen, who came to Penacook in 1730. They were young
men of high character, enterprising and brave, and had seen much
scouting service. Jonathan, the elder, was about thirty years of age,
and a resident of Exeter, whither he had recently removed. Samuel
lived with his father on the homestead in Rumford — the homestead
which John, his son, inherited, and which was to descend in regular
succession to grandson and great-grandson. Obadiah Peters was the
son of Seaborn Peters, one of the first settlers of Penacook. His
father lived near the Millville fort whither the party were going. Oba-
diah had served with Captain Eastman at Louisburg. Of John Bean
and John Lufkin nothing is known save that the former was from
Brentwood, and the latter from Kingston. William Stickney, who
was captured and taken to Canada, was the son of Jeremiah Stick-
ney, one of Rumford's prominent citizens. After a year's captivity
he escaped with a friendly Indian. According to the report of the
latter, Stickney, when within a day's journey of home, was drowned
in a stream which he was attempting to cross. Alexander Roberts,
as before mentioned, also escaped from captivity, and reported the
loss of the Indians in their attack. He claimed a bounty for having
killed an Indian, and obtained it upon producing a skull bone before
the general court. Of the seventy-five pounds appropriated as a
tribute of honor to the participants in the memorable affair, Roberts
received fifteen pounds, bounty included ; Daniel Oilman, and the
heirs or legal representatives of Obadiah Peters, John Lufkin, John
Bean, and William Stickney, each seven pounds ten shillings ; and
the widows of Jonathan and Samuel Bradley, each, eleven pounds
five shillings. 2 The general assembly, with the consent of the gov-
ernor, made appropriation to James Osgood for funeral expenses, 3 in-
cluding five coffins, and "drink for the peopel." 4

A large tree, standing near the place of massacre, was soon after
marked with the initials of the slain, and stood for many years, and
until cut down, the only memorial of the event. But the memory of
the brave men who perished there deserved a more durable monu-
ment, and such it received within a century, when, in 1837, a granite
shaft was, because of difficulty in obtaining the desired site, erected
a few rods east of the scene of the massacre, and on the opposite side
of the road, by Richard, grandson of Samuel Bradley. 5

1 See note at close of chapter. 4 Bouton's Concord, 166 (note).

2 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 541. 5 See Bradley Monument at close of chapter.

3 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 863.

INDIAX HOSTILITIES. 179

Though the savages did not remain in large force at Rumford, after
the August attack, yet they lurked about in small parties during the
autumn, so that a military guard was requisite to the security of the
inhabitants. Captain Ladd's company remained in Rumford and the
neighborhood till October. Other volunteers took the place of those
slain, among these being Ebenezer and Joseph, sons of Captain Eben-
ezer Eastman, and Robert Rogers, the famous ranger of the next war.
Other companies were scouting in the vicinity till December.

On the 10th of November, after the disbandment of Captain Ladd's
company, a man named Estabrook came in from Hopkinton to request
of Dr. Carter professional services in that town. The doctor con-
sented to accompany him, and taking " his bridle and saddle-bags,"
went to the pasture in Deacon George Abbott's lot, south of the
Hopkinton road, to get his horse. But what was unusual, the ani-
mal could not be caught. The doctor, waving his hand to Estabrook,
who was in haste to return home before night, told him to "go on."'
The latter did so, and had reached a point eighty rods east of the
scene of the August massacre, when he was shot dead by an Indian
enemy. The gun was heard in the main settlement, and within half
an hour a pursuing party found the body of the dead man, 1 but saw
nothing of his slayers, though they, or others of the same sort, were
nine days later " discovered by their tracks in a small snow." 2 But
for the unwonted reluctance of a horse to take the bridle, its owner
would undoubtedly have shared the fate of Estabrook.

In those days Indian surprises and narrow escapes from Indian
violence were frequent enough to attest the reasonableness of the
constant apprehension that existed, and justified precaution. Thus,
Captain Henry Lovejoy, returning on horseback one evening, from
Osgood's garrison to his own in the west settlement, feared that he
might be waylaid in a gully south of Ephraim Earnum's. As he
approached the crossing he bethought himself to shout, as if in com-
mand of a force, " Rush on, my boys ! be ready to fire ! " and then
galloped over at good speed. Having reached home in safety, "he
went to turn his horse into a pasture on the north side of Rattlesnake
hill, and while letting down the bars he noticed " disturbance among
the cows. " Inferring that Indians were near, he turned toward the
garrison, and hid himself under a large windfall tree. Immediately
two Indians, with guns, trotted over the tree in pursuit." He re-
tained his hiding-place " till they returned and went off," when he
left covert and " regained the fort." 3

Another incident has its ludicrous element, but shows the brave

1 Facts related by Benjamin Gale, grandson of Dr. Ezra Carter; see Bouton's Concord, 177.
1 Dr. Ezra Carter's Petition, cited in Annals of Concord, 26.
3 Bouton's Concord, 181.

180 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

spirit of woman in that time of oft impending danger. One evening at
twilight, Betsey, a daughter of Abner Hoit, left Jonathan Eastman's
garrison, where her father was " stated," to do the milking on the
home premises, some distance off. 1 She was accompanied by a sol-
dier, named Roane, as a guard. While she was engaged at her task
the guard sat on the cow-yard fence ; but instead of looking out for
Indians, he fastened his eyes upon the busy maiden. Observing his
gaze, she said, " Roane, you better look the other way, and see if
there are any Indians." The soldier, somewhat abashed, turned his
eyes just in time to see " an Indian with tomahawk in hand, creep-
ing slyly toward him." Roane, with a scream, " leaped from the
fence, gun in hand, leaving Betsey to do the best she could for her-
self." But the plucky maiden was equal to the perilous emergency,
and made her way without her guard and in safety to the garrison. 2

In 1747 the inhabitants of Rumford began early to provide means
for continued defense. In town-meeting, on the 9th of February,
they chose Captain Ebenezer Eastman and Henry Lovejoy to solicit
aid from the governor and general court. 3 The assembly not being
in session till March, Captain Eastman, on the 12th of the month,
presented " a petition for some assistance of soldiers in . . . Penny-
Cook," representing that " the inhabitants " were " much exposed
to the Indian enemy," and were " in daily fear " of an attack " by
such a number as " would " be too many for them, unless they " had
" some help " ; and that they were " about to quit the place unless
they " could " be protected " ; for, " on the eighth day of March, there "
had been " a discovery of an Indian near Canterbury fort, which
caused much fear and apprehension that there " was " a body of the
enemy waiting an opportunity to do mischief." 4 Upon this petition,
the house expressed the desire " that his excellency would cause to
be enlisted or impressed twenty-five good, effective men to scout on
the western side of Merrimack river near to PennyCook, &c." 5
Whether or not the desire was complied with is not known, but if
it was, compliance did not furnish adequate security. For on the 2d
of April the assembly was urged again to grant men in aid of Rum-
ford, and on the 4th the governor assented to a vote of the house
for enlisting or impressing " one hundred and forty-four men to be
employed for six months, or till the twentieth of October, in defend-
ing the frontiers, guarding the people at work, and scouting,"-
twenty-four of whom were to be posted " at Pennecook."

About the middle of July extraordinary alarm was felt, and sixty-

1 On what became the " B. H. Weeks place."

2 Related in substance by Jacob Hoit, who was a grandson of Abner, and resided many
years on "the Mountain," in East Concord; Bouton's Concord, 178.

» Town Records, 90, 4 Prov, Papers, Vol. V, 859. 6 Ibid, 860.

INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 181

two of the citizens of Rumford petitioned the provincial authorities
for a reinforcement of soldiers. They declared in their earnest peti-
tion : " We have great reason to fear a speedy attack from the enemy
with a force too great to be matched by us, with what assistance we
at present (through your Excellency's and Honors" great goodness),
have from the province. The plain and evident tracks of a consider-
able number were discovered by our scout the last week. Guns have
been heard both here . . .. and at Contoocook upon the Sabbath
and [at] other times, and [at] places where it is certain no English
were. The news of a formidable armament sent from Canada to
Crown Point obtained such credit with the government of the Massa-
chusetts bay as induced them to provide a prodigious reinforcement
to strengthen their western barrier : and such is our situation, that,
as the rivers Hudson and Connecticut lie most exposed to incursions
from Crown Point, so ours is the next ; and the experience of this
whole war has taught us that whenever any smart attack has been
made upon any of the settlements on Connecticut river, the enemy
has never failed of sending a considerable number to visit our river.
While our ordinary business was hoeing, we could work in such large
companies as not to be in such imminent danger of being massacred
by the enemy, which, now [that] haying and English harvest come
on, will be impracticable, without vast detriment to the whole, and
utter ruin to some." 1 In answer to this petition, and, as it seems,
upon the actual " approach of a considerable body of Indians " at
Rumford, Governor Wentworth ordered thither a reinforcement of
thirty men. In August and September ( 'aptain Ebenezer Eastman
had command of a scouting party ; 2 as also of another the following
winter. 3

In March the " committee of militia " made some new arrange-
ments as to the garrisons. Those of the Reverend Timothy Walker,
Timothy Walker, Jr., Joseph Hall, and Jeremiah Stickney were con-
tinued, — the last and that of Edward Abbott being made to con-
stitute one garrison. Some changes to suit changed circumstances
were made as to the inhabitants " stated " in those forts. But as
"the pressing of the enemy " had "compelled two of the stated gar-
risons to break up '' —namely, those of Henry Lovejoy and Jonathan
Eastman — the committee ordered them to " be thrown up and not
kept, until the inhabitants posted at " them should " have further
assistance and be willing to return " ; these, " in the meantime,"
being " ordered to the " four authorized " garrisons, as most conven-
ient for them." 4

i Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 880-1. * Ibid, 102.

2 Adjutant-General's Report, 1866, Vol. II, 99. " Committee's report, Bouton's Concord, 174-5.

182 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

In the prevalent anxiety among the dwellers in Rnmford, the armed
vigilance exercised by them allowed not the death or captivity of one
of their number at the hands of the watchful savage, during the year
1747. Indeed, only one is recorded to have been wounded. This
was the aged Joseph Pudney, who had an arm broken by an Indian's
shot, as he was carrying " a wooden bottle of beer " from Timothy
Walker, junior's, garrison, to men at work on the Eleven Lots. On
petition to the New Hampshire government for relief, he was allowed
to earn his livelihood by being held in the military service, and
" posted as a garrison soldier." The Indian could depredate, not
murder. The proprietors, sharing in the apprehension of possible
mischief, had ordered, in March, their " books of record " to be car-
ried " to Newbury, or any other town where " they might " be kept
safest." The savages were always watchful for some advantage. In
the summer they had haunted a large field of rye belonging to Benja-
min Abbott, lying on the Bog road, as now called, to attack any who
should go out to reap it. But when the rye was ripe, harvesters ral-
lied in such force that the crop was reaped, and carted home early in
the forenoon, during a brief absence of the savages, who relieved their
disappointment by killing cattle, sheep, and horses, at pasture near
Turkey pond. 1 Later in the year a large party of Indians appeared
in the southwest part of the town and remained some time, ranging
the woods and committing sundry depredations. In particular, they
made havoc of the animals turned by the neighbors into Jeremiah
Bradley's " line field for fall grazing." At length, an armed force of
the inhabitants rallied and " cautiously proceeded in two divisions,
towards the enemy. In the woods near the field, one party found
numerous packs belonging to the Indians, and concluded " to halt
there, and await, in concealment, the approach of the redskins. When
they were seen approaching, one of the concealed men, " through
accident, or an eager desire to avenge his losses, fired his musket, and
alarmed the Indians, who, observing the smoke of the gun, filed off
in " another " direction. The whole party then fired, but with little
injury to their adversaries. The body of an Indian was, however,
some time afterward, found secreted in a hollow log, into which, it is
supposed " that, " having been wounded by the fire of the party, he
had crawled and expired."

During the following winter no harm was done by the Indians in
Rumford or its vicinity. But early in February, 1748, the inhab-
itants began to be apprehensive, and, in town-meeting, chose Lieuten-
ant John Webster and Dr. Ezra Carter to "make application to
the general assembly for a suitable number of men to guard " them

i Bouton's Concord, 178. * Annals of Concord, 27.

INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 183

"the ensuing year." 1 Savages were soon prowling about, and in
April a considerable body of them passed " on rafts over Contoocook
river," and killed " a number of cattle in that neighborhood," so that
the governor reinforced " the garrisons at Contoocook and Canter-
bury with ten men each for one month." 2 Captain John Goffe had
a company of twenty-five or thirty men, scouting and doing garrison
duty, from May 28 to October 5. Of this company, John Webster
was lieutenant, and of the other Rumford men in its ranks were
Reuben Abbott, Joseph Eastman, Nathaniel Abbott, Joseph Putney,
Sampson Colby, and John Chandler, Jr. 3

In October, 1748, the war of the Austrian Succession came to an
end in the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, and with it King George's War.
The peace, as to the former war, confirmed the " Pragmatic Sanction"
and Frederick the Great's possession of Silesia ; as to the latter, it
settled nothing between France and England in regard to their re-
spective territorial claims in America, but remanded everything to its
former state, even Louisburg, much to the disappointment of New
England, being restored to France. But savage violence had gained
an impetus during four years of contest, which the declaration of
peace could not at once overcome. That violence was not wholly
stayed even until the next year ; Rumford, however, suffered little
or nothing after the peace, though the people kept themselves pre-
pared for defense.

The war had tested the endurance and taxed the resources of the
people of Rumford. Sometimes, in their extreme perils and " de-
plorable circumstances," especially when feeling themselves unsup-
ported by adequate aid from the province, the idea of abandoning
their settlement had suggested itself to them. Varied exigencies
drained their means and detained them from their vocations, to the
loss of nearly "one half of their time during the most busy and
valuable part of the year." But it could be, as it was, truthfully
said of the inhabitants of Rumford and their conduct in that day of
trial : " They have stood their ground against the enemy, supported
themselves with all the necessaries of life, and also yearly spared
considerable quantities of provisions to the neighboring villages,
which must have suffered very much if they had not had their
assistance. And they had been always ready, upon notice of dis-
tress or danger among their neighbors, during the war, to go to their
relief, — many times, in considerable companies, to places at a great
distance, — all at their own expense." 4

•Town Records, 97.

2 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, 906.

sAdjutant-General's Report, 1866, Vol. II, 105-6.

1 Depositions in the Bow controversy, 1767. Bouton's Concord, 181-2.

184 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

During this time the men of Rumford had also duly exercised the
town rights and privileges guaranteed them by the district act and
its renewals, so as to meet the requisitions of an enlightened and
well-ordered community. They regularly taxed themselves " to de-
fray the ministerial and other necessary charges of Rumford." But,
in the year 1749, Rumford lost its town privileges through the non-
renewal of the district act. A town-meeting held on the 29th of
March of that year was the last corporate one held upon the soil of
Rumford for seventeen years; two of the petitions for incorporation
as a town presented within that period having proved ineffectual.
The incomplete ] record of that meeting is a suggestive broken edge
of the chasm in the town records between 1749 and 17(36.

Amid the closing events depicted in this chapter, a leading actor
disappeared from the stage. Death detached Ebenezer Eastman from
the elect company of early settlers. His associates had entrusted
him with most important responsibilities, and while public duties were
always upon his hands, large private interests made drafts upon his
activity. His wide influence was the reward of merit. In family
relations, too, this civilian and soldier was happy, and his children
grew up about him to imitate his virtues. In March, 1748, Ebenezer
Eastman for the last time — after many years of continuous service —
presided as moderator over the deliberations of his fellow-citizens in
the annual town-meeting. Four months later, on the 28th of July,
this pioneer of Penacook died, at the age of fifty-nine years, in his
home by the Merrimack, leaving a name honored in the annals of the
community, and a memory to be cherished.

Notes and Incidents.

The G-raves of those Massacred in 174-6. Dr. Bouton, in his
History of Concord, published in 1856, says : " The spot where the
bodies were buried cannot now be exactly identified ; but it was very
near the place now enclosed and occupied as the burial plat of the
Bradley and Ayer family."

The Bradley Monument. ( )n the 22d (11th, old style) of Au-
gust, 1837, ninety-one years after the massacre on the Hopkinton
road, the commemorative monument — mentioned in the text — was
erected in the presence of a large concourse, near the scene of the
event. A procession was formed under the direction of Colonel
Stephen Brown as chief marshal, at the residence of Benjamin H.
Weeks, in the following order : Teachers and scholars of public and
private schools; chief marshal ; music; committee of arrangements ;

1 See " Rumford's Last Town Meeting " in note at close of chapter.

THE BRADLEY MONUMENT. 185

orator ; New Hampshire Historical society ; descendants of the per-
sons killed in 174(3; his Excellency Governor Isaac Hill; officers
of the state government ; past officers ; citizens generally.

The procession moved to the site, and there the monument was
raised into its place. The company then repaired to a grove of oaks
on the south side of the road, where the follow-
ing order of exercises was observed: 1. Hymn
by the Rev. John Pierpont of Boston. Sung un-
der the direction of William I). Buck. (Hymn
printed beyond.) 2. Prayer by the Rev. Na-
thaniel Bouton. 3. Address by Asa McFarland.
Ode by George Kent. 5. Reading, by Richard
Bradley, of an original petition of the inhabi-
tants of Rumford to the governor, council, and
assembly, for succor against the Indians, with
autographs of the subscribers, followed by con-

r ,, i it, The Bradley Monument.

veyance ot the monument ami grounds made to
the New Hampshire Historical Society by Mr. Bradley, and received
by Rev. Nathaniel Bouton in behalf of the said society. 6. An his-
torical ballad, written by Miss Mary Clark of Concord, and read by
Mr. Timothy P. Stone of Andover, Mass., principal of the Concord
Literary Institution. 7. Concluding prayer by the Rev. Ebenezer E.
Cummings.

HYMN.

BY KEV. JOHN PIERPONT.

Not now, O God, beneath the trees

That shade this vale at night's cold noon,
Do Indian war-songs load the breeze,

Or wolves sit howling to the moon.

The foes, the fears our fathers felt,

Have, with our fathers, passed away;
And where in death's dark shade they knelt,

We come to praise thee and to pray.

We praise thee that thou plantedst them,
And mad' st thy heavens drop down their dew —

We pray, that, shooting from their stem,
We long may nourish where they grew.

And, Father, leave us not alone:

Thou hast been, and art still our trust:
Be thou our fortress, till our own

Shall mingle with our fathers' dust.

186 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Facsimile of Petition for Aid, I 744.

i^J jU fJft^S^ t faUfcbJi y^k^ -/X.-/O jtmu^>^.

J„n^, Ai2L JLw M&trj~"~ jJSUU^'

rumford's last town-meeting. 187

RmnforcVs Last Towiwneeting. The following is the abruptly ter-
minated record of Rumford's last town-meeting, as found in the town
records, p. 104 :

At a Legal Meeting of the Inhabitants & Freeholders of the Town
of Rumford on Wednesday ye 29th of March 1749.

Capt John Chandler was chosen Moderator of this present Meeting.

Voted, that Dr Ezra Carter be Town Clerk.

Voted, that Capt John Chandler Dr Ezra Carter Lt Jeremiah
Stickney Mr Ebenezer Virgin & Mr Henry Lovejoy be Select Men.

Voted, that Mr Samuel Gray be Constable.

Voted, that James Abbott, Jeremiah Dreser, Dn George Abbott,
Aron Stevens, Jacob Shute & Amos Eastman be Surveyors of High
Ways.

Voted, That Edward

CHAPTER VI.

RUMFORD NEITHER TOWN NOR DISTRICT. THE BOW CONTRO-
VERSY and Matters therewith Connected. — Colonization
by Concord Settlers.

1749-1762. 1

The story of this chapter is that of the critical period in the his-
tory of the town. The Bow controversy, previously referred to, had
now reached its acute stage. King George's War was at an end. As
a frontier town, Rumford had served as a buffer against Indian attacks
for the more southerly settlements of New Hampshire. Relieved of
the menace of Indian warfare, the settlers had precipitated upon
them a legal controversy affecting the title of their land which threat-
ened to dispossess them of their homes and give to strangers all that
they had, through years of toil, reclaimed from the wilderness. Rum-
ford had been settled under a grant from the colony of Massachusetts,
but had now become a part of New Hampshire, through a decision of
the king in council in drawing a boundary line between the two colo-
nies of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The control of the New
Hampshire government was in the hands of those friendly to the Bow
proprietors, who were claimants of the land settled in Rumford. The
suits which these Bow proprietors brought to acquire title to this ter-
ritory were to be tried in the New Hampshire courts, whose judges
were in sympathy with these same proprietors. The settlers of Rum-
ford were dependent for authority to direct their local affairs upon
the government of New Hampshire, and this government had now
refused to renew the act by which, as a district, they levied taxes to
support their schools and their minister and maintain their control of
municipal affairs. The efforts of the Bow proprietors, through their
influence with the colonial government of New Hampshire, were
directed to destroying the unity of action of the settlers by depriving
them of authority to act as a town or a district at the same time that
they harassed them with vexatious suits, purposely brought for so
small amounts of damages that no appeal lay beyond the colonial
courts. These Rumford settlers, numbering one hundred families,
who had come into the wilderness under a grant which they had

1 1762. This date marks the second royal decision in favor of Rumford, the critical event
in the Bow controversy; but to complete in this chapter the treatment of that controversy
to its final settlement will require some anticipation of dates.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 189

every reason to believe valid, now found themselves an isolated
colony under a hostile government, bereft of even the countenance of
law to act as a community. In view of their situation at this time,
the marvel is that the colony was not then and there broken up and
its settlers scattered.

How they held together for many years by voluntary association,
agreeing to support one another, pledging their all to that end, is
an incident of New England settlements probably without parallel.
The Bow proprietors were entrenched in the government of New
Hampshire, and the leading spirits were men of means and influ-
ence. The settlers of Rumford, on the other hand, had no capital
but their homes and no outside support save occasional small contri-
butions from the government of Massachusetts; yet they entered
upon this unequal contest with undaunted courage, and, when they
were cut off from appeal to the courts of England, they fell back
upon the sacred right of petition, and through this ultimately tri-
umphed over their antagonists. In the pages of legal documents the
story of this litigation is told ; but these documents do not picture
the anxiety of these years, the self-sacrifice, or the doubts, as they
planted, without confidence of harvest, as they harvested, without
hopes of eating the fruits thereof, and as they put off permanent
improvements which they might not enjoy ; nor do they tell of the
unity of spirit, which, without legal sanction policed their community
and kept it from crime ; the willing contributions of each his share
to maintain the gospel and the school and the hundred and one acts
which each cheerfully performed when there was no assurance that
in the end they might not be compelled to abandon all that they had
struggled so hard to obtain and held so dear. What the} r suffered
in fears and doubts, with what heaviness of heart they engaged in
their daily toil, with what rumors they were frequently dismayed,
how the law's delay disturbed their waking and sleeping hours, how
often they were on the point of giving up the fight, and with what
small solace the clays and nights of these long years were cheered, no
chronicler of that time records. It is left for the imagination to por-
tray. But it is known from their surroundings that it was a contest
of silent suffering, of strong resolution, and of fidelity to one another
unshaken. While details are lacking of the daily life of Rumford dur-
ing the period of this controversy with the Bow proprietors, the his-
tory of the legal proceedings in the New Hampshire courts and before
the king in council is quite complete and is here given.

As mentioned in the preceding chapter, Rumford had, by 1749,
ceased to be either a district or a town. On the 24th of January,
1750, the people, through Benjamin Rolfe, petitioned the governor

190 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

and council to be incorporated into a township with their ancient
boundaries, and with such privileges as any of the towns in the prov-
ince enjoyed. In the memorial accompanying the petition, it was
declared : " Your memorialists, by power given them by the district
acts, . . . for about six years last past, have annually raised
money for defraying our ministerial, school and other necessary
charges . . . , and taxed the inhabitants accordingly: but the
district act expiring some time last summer, there is now no law of
this province whereby your memorialists can raise any money for the
year current, for the charges aforesaid. And your memorialists have
abundant reason to think that the Rev. Mr. Timothy Walker, who
has been settled with us as our minister for about twenty years,—
unless we can speedily be put into a capacity to make a tax for his
salary, — will be necessitated to leave us, which will be to our great
loss and inexpressible grief; for he is a gentleman of an unspotted
character, and universally beloved by us. Our public school will
also, of course, fail, and our youth thereby be deprived, in a great
measure, of the means of learning, which we apprehend to be of a
very bad consequence ; [and] our schoolmaster, who is a gentleman
of a liberal education, . . . and lately moved his family from
Andover to Kumford, on account of his keeping school for us, will be
greatly damaged and disappointed. And your memorialists, under
the present circumstances, are deprived of all other privileges which
a well regulated town enjoys." 1 But this urgent representation was
met by a remonstrance of George Veasey and Abram Tilton, select-
men of Bow, presented on the 7th of February, 1750, and alleging
that the bounds mentioned in " the petition of the inhabitants on a
tract of land called Penacook to be incorporated with town privi-
leges," made " great infringement on land belonging to the town of
Bow." Action favorable to Rumford was thus prevented, for it had
become the policy of the New Hampshire government, from motives
made apparent in early subsequent narration, to ignore Rumford, even
as a district, and to destroy its corporate identity by a complete
merger in the township of Bow.

That government had, in May, 1726, sent its committee to Pena-
cook to warn the Massachusetts committee against laying out the
lands there, and, a year later, had chartered the township of Bow, out
of territory lying on both sides of the Merrimack, in a grant of eighty-
one square miles, made without previous survey, and " extremely
vague and uncertain as to its bounds," 2 but stubbornly construed by
its supporters to cover three fourths of the plantation of Penacook.

1 Benjamin Rolfe's Memorial, etc.; Annals of Concord, 85-6 (Appendix).

2 The Rev. Timothy Walker's Petition to the king in 1753.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 191

In 17*28 the Massachusetts government, confident of the validity of
its claim as to its northerly boundary line, had, regardless of the New
Hampshire caveat, made two grants: in 1728 that of Suncook, lying-
in large part within the vague limits of Bow; and, a few years later,
that of Number Four, or Hopkinton, trenching, at an angle, upon the
same grant. This grant of Bow was taken to lie obliquely upon that
of Rumford, from southeast to northwest, leaving outside a northeast
and a northwest gore, the latter being considerably the larger. The
bounds of the township were scantily described in the charter, in the
following terms : " Beginning on the southeast side of the town of
Chichester, and running nine miles by Chichester and Canterbury,
and carrying that breadth of nine miles from each of the aforesaid
towns, southwest, until the full complement of eighty-one square
miles are fully made up." x This tract of land was granted as a town
corporate, by the name of Bow, to one hundred and seven proprietors,
and thirty-one associates, comprising the governor, the lieutenant-
governor, the members of the council, and those of the assembly, with
sixteen others to be named by the lieutenant-governor, numbering in
all one hundred and fifty-one grantees. 2

Though Bow was, by the terms of the charter, a town from the
20th of May, 1727, yet not till twenty months later did its proprie-
tors set foot upon its soil by way of entry. Then, by a committee,
they surveyed the lands granted, and marked out the bounds. 3 All
they did, however, was " to run a chain, and mark some trees, at a
a great distance round " 3 the busy settlers of Penacook, who were in
occupation, as they had been, for more than two years, and who were
there clearing and tilling the virgin soil, building their homes, and
finishing their house for the public worship of God. The blazed
lines run out by the proprietors of Bow were not, as these held,
essential " as to the purpose of giving them the seisin," 3 or possession
of the lands surrounded by them, but were " especially designed, that
they might know and distinguish their township from others." 3 For
they claimed that " the grantees, by operation of law, were seized
immediately upon the execution of their charter." 3 Some clue as to
those lines is afforded by the testimony of Walter Bryant, who per-
ambulated them about 1719. " I began," says the surveyor, "at the
reputed bound of the town of Chichester, at the head of Nottingham,
and from thence run northwest, four miles, to the head of Epsom ;
then there marked a maple tree with the word Bow and sundry let-
ters ; and from said tree, which I called the east corner of said Bow,

1 See plan and explanations in note at close of chapter.

2 See names of grantees in note at close of chapter.

s From statement drawn up by Judge Pickering, being one of the papers upon which
the Bow controversy was decided in 1762. It is able and thorough, and will be frequently
quoted from in subsequent pages.

192 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

I run northwest, four miles, to the west corner of Chichester ; then
northeast, one mile, to Canterbury south corner, then northwest, rive
miles, on said Canterbury; then southwest, nine miles, which runs to
northwest of Rattlesnake hill and most of the pond that lies on the
northwest side of said hill ; and said line crosses Hopkinton road, so
called, and takes a part of said town in ; then we marked a tree, and
run southeast, five miles, and marked a tree ; then one mile south-
west ; then southeast, four miles ; then northeast, nine miles, to
where we began. P. S. I crossed Merrimack river within two miles
of Canterbury line, and found all the inhabitants to the south of Can-
terbury and east of [the] Merrimack, which are in Rumford to be in
Bow." J

At best, however, even with this perambulation, the lines of Bow
did not lose their uncertainty, and remained too much like the
boundaries, once wittily defined by Rufus Choate, in another case,
" as beginning at a blue-jay on the bough of a pine tree, thence
easterly to a dandelion gone to seed, thence due south to three hun-
dred foxes with firebrands tied between their tails/' Especially is
it to be noted that the beginning of these lines was marked by a
fleeting thing ; for " the southeast side of the town of Chichester,'"
which the charter had set for the beginning, became, in the survey,
the southwest side of Chichester — the " blue-jay " having flown and
alighted four miles away to the westward.

It is probable that the grant of Suncook, made by Massachusetts
in 1728, and partially covering the territory of Bow, stimulated the
proprietors of the latter to mark their boundary line in 1729. The
next year a part of Suncook was divided by its proprietors into lots,
which were assigned to grantees, and upon which actual settlement
was soon commenced. Without regard to this the Bow proprietors
laid out the same and some adjoining territory in an allotment reck-
lessly intersecting and overlapping the other; 2 and while effecting
no settlement under the grant of New Hampshire, they would not
allow the peaceable effecting of any under that of Massachusetts.
Their policy was that of the dog in the manger. About this time,
and probably as a part of the same transaction, " a parcel " of the
Bow grant, " on the east side of the Merrimack river, by conjecture
about three miles square," 3 was enclosed; but what allotment of
Penacook lands, if any, was made at this period by the proprietors
of Bow is not known, lint at some time lands "were laid out and
divided" 4 by them within the limits of Penacook or Rumford; for
account was taken of them in the charter of the parish of Concord

1 Bouton's Concord, 206 (note). 3 Judge Pickering's Statement.

2 History of Pembroke, 39, 40. 4 Charter of Parish of Concord.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 193

in 1765 ; and in the settlement of the Bow controversy in 1771,
" the proprietors of Rnmford were to pay ten pounds to the proprie-
tors of Bow, for each hundred acre lot which was laid out by said
Bow in said Rumford." !

Thus, while Bow — as Lord Chief Justice Mansfield of England
remarked in substance years afterwards 2 — claimed the desirable
valley of the upper Merrimack, the Massachusetts people went on
and settled it. The plantation of Penacook became the town of
Rumford with its charter confirmed by the king. Bow was nomi-
nally a town, holding meetings of non-resident grantees, and choos-
ing selectmen at Stratham, forty miles away, and with not an in-
habitant settled by itself upon the soil which it claimed. Though
the settlement of the boundary line in 1710 threw Rumford under
the jurisdiction of New Hampshire, yet as this act had been accom-
panied by the express declaration of the king that a change of juris-
diction should not affect the rights of private property, the proprie-
tors and settlers of Rumford had reason to hope that they should
not be molested in their dearly earned possessions. As early, how-
ever, as 1742, apprehension was felt by them as to the mischievous
designs of the Bow proprietors, and the thought was entertained
among them that it would be desirable to choose one or more per-
sons fully authorized to act in their behalf, in using " ways and
means to quiet and secure the proprietors in their possessions, and
to secure their just right to the premises, either in the Province
of New-Hampshire, or in the Court of Great Britain." 8 Though
this thought did not ripen into immediate action, yet the same
year Capt. Ebenezer Eastman was " appointed ... to meet the
delegates of . . . proprietors of grants made by the General
Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay . . . at a meet-
ing held in Boston, in November, . . . to join with them in
consulting . . . [as to] what" might "be necessary for the
general good of the said Proprietors." 4 Mischief was threatened;
but the outright war of dispossession upon the Rumford settlers
was temporarily averted, especially by the French and Indian War,
which was scarcely more harassing than the civil contest which was
to supervene.

In the course of years those of the grantees specially named in the
Bow charter as proprietors had forfeited their rights by non-fulfil-
ment of conditions, and the proprietorship — as it is likely enough
was originally intended — had fallen mainly into the hands of the

1 Petition of Thomas Stickney to New Hampshire Legislature, 1789; Bouton's Concord, 304.

2 The Rev. Timothy Walker's Letter, 1762.

3 Proprietors' Records (manuscript), Vol. Ill, 170.
4 Proprietors' Records (manuscript), Vol. Ill,

194 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

associates who were the members of the executive and legislative
branches of the provincial government, including some who held
place in the judicial department. By 1749 the "Proprietors of the
common and undivided lands lying and being in the town of Bow v
as they styled themselves — were ready to attempt the actual en-
forcement of their claim upon the soil of Rumford. To smooth the
way for their attempt, the district act had not been renewed ; and
now through the remonstrance of their so-called " selectmen," the
incorporation of Rumford, as a New Hampshire town, was pre-
vented, lest such official recognition of its distinct corporate exist-
ence might hinder the purpose. Without any actual seizin — and
with only the most illusory constructive one — of the lands claimed,
they had the effrontery to assert that they had been disseized for
twenty-three years by bona fide settlers, who, all that time and
more, had occupied and improved the premises. Hence the claim-
ants in or about the sea-board capital, alias, " the proprietors of the
common and undivided lands lying and being in the town of Bow,"
under the fallacious pretext of only seeking "to recover" that of
which they had been "disseized," instituted a course of oppressive
litigation.

In 1749 the proprietors of Bow entered at the December term of
the court of common pleas, at Portsmouth, an action of ejectment
against John Merrill, the early ferryman of Penacook, which was
continued to the succeeding March term (1749-'50). 1 Judgment
was then rendered for the defendant, and the plaintiff took an appeal
to the next superior court, when pleas of abatement were moved, and,
by agreement of parties, the case was continued to the September
term, 1750. 2 But at this term neither party appeared, and the case
was dismissed.

Why the plaintiffs abandoned this action does not appear ; but in
December, 1750, another action was entered upon the docket of the
court of common pleas by the Bow proprietors against the same John
Merrill, to oust him from " about eight acres of land, situate in Bow
. . . with the buildings and appurtenances thereof," 3 the whole being
a portion of his homestead estate. These cases headed the long line
of vexatious suits, all involving the same principle and substantially
the same procedure and result in the province courts. But the pro-
prietors of Rumford had been preparing for the tug of war. They
had seen to it that the lines of the town should be perambulated and
marked. 4 They were united in their purpose to defend, at whatever
cost, their rights, and those of their grantees, against intrusion. On

'C. P. Records, 1745-1750, p. 436. 3 Statement of Judge Pickering.

8 Sup. Ot. Records, B., p. 129. * Annals of Concord, 29 (note).

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 195

the 23d of April, 1750, after the bringing of the Merrill action in
1749, — which as just seen was abandoned, — they voted to "be at the
cost of defending John Merrill, in the action brought against " him,
by the proprietors of Bow, " provided " he should " pursue and de-
fend said action agreeably to the orders of " his fellow proprietors. It
was also voted " That the proprietors will be at the cost and charge
of supporting and defending the just right and claim of any of " the
" proprietors or their grantees, to any and every part of " the town-
ship of Rumford against any person or persons that shall bring a
writ of trespass and ejectment for the recovery of any of said lands :
provided, the said proprietors or grantees that shall be trespassed
upon, or that shall be sued, shall pursue and defend their rights or
claims agreeably to the orders of said proprietors of Rumford." 1
These votes were followed by another, appointing Captain John Chand-
ler, Colonel Benjamin Rolfe, Lieutenant Jeremiah Stickney, Mr.
Ebenezer Virgin, and Dr. Ezra Carter, a committee " to advise and
order Deacon John Merrill how he " should "pursue and defend the
action brought against " him " by the proprietors of Bow; also, to
advise and order any other person or persons that " should " be sued
or " should " sue in order to support and defend their rights or
claims, what method they " should kt pursue for the purposes afore-
said." 1 Provision was also made for selling " pieces of the common
and undivided land in the township," to raise " money to pay the
proprietors 1 debts, and the charge that " had " arisen or " should
" arise by defending the suit brought against Deacon John Merrill by
the proprietors of Bow." With such a resolute and concordant
spirit of preparation did the proprietors and settlers of Rumford meet
the issue presented. They appreciated the perils of the contest.
They knew, indeed, that their cause was just, but would it prevail ?
With a fair, impartial trial it would. But such a trial was not to be
expected in New Hampshire, since the governor and most of the
council were " proprietors of Bow, and by them, not only the judges "
were " appointed, but also the officers that " impaneled the jurors
from " people generally disaffected to " the defendants, " on account
of their deriving their titles from Massachusetts." 2 The defendants
might, however, reasonably hope to obtain some justice in the end,
could they but get a hearing before the king in council; though this
resort the plaintiffs might, as they did, try to prevent by bringing
actions for so small values, that, under the laws of the province,
there could be no appeal to England. But whatever the cost, it was
felt by the defendants that it was better to incur it than to submit to

'Proprietors' Records (manuscript), Vol. III.

2 Petition of Rev. Timothy Walker and Benjamin Rolfe to the king in 1753.

196 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

the process of the plaintiffs, instituted to compel, under menace of
ouster, acknowledgment of a groundless claim to proprietorship.

The action against John Merrill, entered in the inferior court of
common pleas, at the December term, 1750, was, at the request of
his counsel, continued to the March term, 1751, that he might "vouch
in his warrantor/' of whom he had purchased part of the land in
question. As the warrantor did not appear at that term, the defend-
ant was obliged to defend himself, or give up the land demanded on
which some of his buildings stood. " He, therefore, 7 ' as his counsel,
Judge Pickering, has recorded in his statement of the case, " gave an
issuable plea, and thereupon obtained judgment, from which the
plaintiffs appealed to the then next superior court, and entered their
appeal ; and after several continuances, the parties had hearing, and
judgment was rendered for the plaintiffs to recover the premises
demanded. This judgment the defendant reviewed ; but judgment
was again rendered for the plaintiffs. From this judgment the de-
fendant would have appealed to the king in council, or to the gover-
nor and council here in a court of appeals; but was not permitted to
do so, as the premises demanded were not of sufficient value to allow
either " recourse, according to the province law in such cases.

This case, with some others like it in principle and result, had, by
1753, passed through the New Hampshire courts. From an elaborate
statement of the Merrill case, prepared by the acute and learned
counselor in defense, and fortunately preserved, a view of the posi-
tions taken by the two parties in the controversy may be gained. A
glance at some of them has already been had ; but it may be well
here to present them briefly in connected form, and partly in Judge
Pickering's own words.

The Bow proprietors urged that, inasmuch as " the right to all the
lands in the province was originally in the Crown," the charter of
Bow, issued under the governor's commission which conferred the
power to grant those lands, gave the grantees immediate seizin " by
operation of law " ; and that marking the bounds, twenty months
later, and enclosing, five years afterward, a parcel three miles square,
"on the easterly side of Merrimack river," gave them "actual seizin
and possession of the whole," with the consequent right to oust " any
person who" had "entered and possessed any part within the bounds
of their charter, in any other right or claim." They expressly set
forth in their declaration that, in "June, 1727, they were seized of
the premises ... in said town of Bow, in fee, taking the profits
thereof . . . , and continued to be so seized for one year then
next ensuing, and ought now to have quiet and peaceable possession ;
yet " the defendant, " within twenty-three years last past hath, with-

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 197

out judgment of law, entered into the premises demanded," and "dis-
seized the plaintiffs thereof.**

To the title thus set up by the plaintiffs the defendant objected,
and denied that they had proved their ease. " For,*" as he urged,
"it is only by virtue of a seisin in fact that a person takes the profits
—never by virtue of a seisin in law only. Now, they never set a
foot on the lands contained within the bounds of their charter till
twenty months after*' the execution of that instrument in June,
1727, so that "it is difficult to conceive how their seisin'* at the
earlier date "is proved by entry" at the later. Nor could such evi-
dence of entry and possession as was adduced by the plaintiffs prove
the charge of disseizin against "the settlers of the plantation, called
Penacook," who " had been in possession of it above a year before
the date " of the Bow charter, and were vigorously pursuing meas-
ures in order to settle a town there. The Penacook settlers "were
clearing the land almost two years before any of the proprietors of
Bow had seen their land : and all that "' the latter " did when they
entered was to run a chain and mark some trees, at a great distance,
round the laborers; they never so much as saw the land now
demanded, where the settlers of Penacook were at work. And,
indeed, by the plaintiffs' rule of possessing land by walking round it,"
the continuous possession of the Penacook settlers might " well be
computed " from more than two years, instead of one, before the
issuance of the Bow charter. "Upon these facts concerning the man-
ner of entry and possession of these parties, with what propriety'
could the Bow proprietors claim this land ?

Again, it was argued for the defendant: Supposing "the lands
which the plaintiffs claim were the king's at the time their charter
was made — which was not the case, in fact — yet the Bow proprietors
have not derived that right to themselves ; for the authority of the
governor of New Hampshire " to grant the king's lands was confined
to his jurisdiction, which, by the commission, " was limited to that part
of New Hampshire extending from three miles northward of Merri-
mack river, or any part thereof, to the province of Maine, which was
the easterly boundary of the commission ; the westerly boundary of
which was the line running three miles northward of the Merrimack.
Now the land demanded by the plaintiffs in this suit lay on the west-
erly side of Merrimack river, more than three miles without the gov-
ernor's jurisdiction, and, consequently, he had no power to grant it ;
for, if he might grant the king's lands out of his jurisdiction, where
should he stop ? By what limits could he be restrained ? From the
reason and necessity of the thing, therefore, it must be allowed that
the right of government and of granting lands was limited to the

198 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

same territory. And the words of the commission necessarily imply
that it did not extend over all that was called New Hampshire."
Hence, " if it were conceded that these lands were within the prov-
ince of New-Hampshire at the date of the plaintiffs' charter, that con-
cession would avail the plaintiffs nothing in this case."

"Another objection' —already mentioned — was made "to the
plaintiffs' demand, from the manner of their running out the bounds
of their township. By their charter, they were to begin on the
southeast side of the township of Chichester. Instead of that they
began on the southwest side. Now what could justify such a pro-
ceeding? If the land where they were to begin was appropriated
before, that could not authorize them to be their own carvers, to take
what they were pleased to estimate as an equivalent, without a new
grant — which they never had. Nor did they ever make a return to
the authority whence they derived their title, for confirmation of
what they had thus unwarrantably assumed ; for by their running
they took in a considerable tract of land, really without their char-
ter, and which belongs to others." They alleged, to be sure, " that
they could not begin on the south-east side of Chichester, because it
joined Nottingham on that side ; but if it was so, what necessity of
going four miles on Chichester before they began their measure?
They should have taken their land according to their grant." But
" it is probable " that " the true motive for making this leap — not in
the dark — was to get better land." And " if they had run, as they
ought, from the southerly corner of Chichester, they would not have
reached the land demanded."

Looking closer to the title claimed by the plaintiffs, " as derived
from the Crown," the defendant said that all the lands in question
were " long before granted by the council of Plymouth, — in whom
the right of the crown to them was vested, — to Captain John Mason,"
whose " right was always adjudged good. As the said lands were all
waste or unimproved " except those occupied by the settlers of Pena-
cook, " they, beyond all question, belonged — agreeably to Queen
Anne's orders and the concession of the assembly here — to those who
had Mason's right." This being the case, "the governor's grant
could be of no effect as to these lands ; for the power of the gov-
ernor extended only to right of the crown, of which the crown was
long before divested. Hence the plaintiffs' title under the govern-
ment" could "not serve them," and of this fact, "the defendant"
might " take advantage ; for it is a well known rule, that a defendant
may plead any man's title against the plaintiff."

Hut the plaintiffs claimed to have Mason's right, inasmuch as
" Mason's heir sold it to Theodore Atkinson and others, by deed

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 199

dated the 30th of July, 1746, and that the purchasers, by their deed
of release, dated the 31st of July aforesaid, conveyed their right to
the plaintiffs, among others." To understand better this position of
the plaintiffs, and that of the defendant in denial of it, a brief digres-
sive retrospect is necessary.

In a preceding chapter it was related that Captain John Mason's
grant of New Hampshire fell into the hands of his grandsons, John
and Robert Tufton, who took the name of Mason. These made
ineffectual attempts to obtain recognition of proprietorship. Another
pair of brothers, also named John and Robert — sons of Robert — sold
their claim to Samuel Allen in 1691. There was a flaw, however,
in the transfer. After some years, John, the son of Robert, " con-
ceived hopes of invalidating Allen's purchase," 1 but died in 1718,
without accomplishing his purpose. His eldest son, John Tufton,
the fifth in descent from Captain Mason, and born about 1713, "was
bred to a mechanical employment in Boston," 1 and is also sometimes
spoken of as a "mariner." He inherited the enterprising spirit of
his ancestors, 1 and the controversy as to the lines called his attention
to his interests. 1 In 1738, the politicians of Massachusetts, hoping
to derive some advantage in the controversy, encouraged him " to
assert his pretensions," 1 and sent him to England to enforce his
claim, but they had their expense for their pains. Thomlinson, the
vigilant New Hampshire agent, finding Mason detached from the
Massachusetts agents, entered into an agreement with him for the
release of his whole interest to the assembly of New Hampshire, in
consideration of the payment of one thousand pounds, currency of
New England. 2 Nothing more was heard of this till after the settle-
ment of the boundary dispute, and the accession of Benning Went-
worth to the governorship.

In 1744, "the agreement with Thomlinson was lodged in the
hands of the governor, who sent it to the house, for perusal and con-
sideration ; " but "the affairs of the war" and other causes pre-
vented anything from being done. It was not until 1746 that
" the house came to a resolution ' that they would comply with the
agreement, and pay the price ; and that the waste lands should be
granted by the general assembly, as they should think proper.' '
The council demurred at the clause as to the sale of the waste
lands; while a greater disappointment befell the tardy assembly,
when a committee sent on the 30th of July, " to treat with Mason,
about fulfilling his agreement, and to draw the proper instruments of
conveyance," 1 found that he, tired of waiting, " had, on the same day,
by deed of sale, for the sum of fifteen hundred pounds currency, con-

i Belknap, 252. *lbid, 204.

200 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

veyed his whole interest to twelve persons, in fifteen shares." One
of the twelve was Theodore Atkinson, previously mentioned. These
gentlemen, who, with their successors, were ever afterwards styled
The Masonian Proprietors, aware that the transaction would raise,
as it did, " a great ferment among the people," 1 prudently took care,
the very next day, " to file in the recorder's office a deed of quit-
claim," 1 or release, " to all the towns which had been settled and
granted within the limits of their purchase ; " * thus somewhat allay-
ing popular apprehension, and parrying the first fierce attacks made
upon them.

Bow was one of the towns quitclaimed ; and so it was that the
plaintiff proprietors claime'd that by virtue of the Masonian Proprie-
tors' release they had Mason's title in the Bumford lands lying
within Bow. This claim involved the acknowledgment that Mason's
title was in force and effect in 1727, and that they got no title until
174(3 — a position wholly inconsistent with their claim of seizin from
the former date, and effectually disposed of by the defendant's query :
" How a right acquired in 174(3 could give an actual seism of the
lands, the right to which was then purchased, so long before the
purchase as 1727 ; that is whether a man by virtue of a deed made
to-day, could be in actual possession of the land conveyed by it nine-
teen years ago." But the defendant denied that " a right was con-
veyed by this release to the lands demanded " ; it being " common
learning on this subject that a release operates only to those in pos-
session," while " the plaintiffs' own declaration " showed " that they
had been out of possession about twenty years." Moreover, " the
release " was " made as much to the defendant as any person whom-
soever. For he is an inhabitant of Bow, as the plaintiffs them-
selves " have styled " him ; and since the release '" was " made to
the inhabitants, as well as to the proprietors, of what they " pos-
sessed, he, having been " possessed so long in his own right, must of
necessity be quieted by this release, if it has any effect at all." But
what was further " objected to the plaintiffs on this head was the
well known point of law," that "a chose in action, or a mere right,
cannot be transferred, and Mason's title was no more as to all the
lands in the possession of those who were not parties at the time of
making the said deed to Atkinson and others. The lands demanded,
as well as all the plantation of Penacook, had been nearly twenty
years in the possession of entire strangers to that transaction. What
title, then, could the Bow Proprietors derive to themselves, under
this conveyance, to the lands in question ? "

Having controverted the plaintiffs' title, the defendant vindicated

1 Belknap, 296-7.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 201

his own, as derived from Massachusetts, while that province was
exercising jurisdiction in fact over the premises, and was holding
"the property of the soil" under a deed in fee given, in 1 (>2<S, by
the council of Plymouth — which held the divested right of the
crown — to Sir Henry Roswell and others as private persons. The
grant was confirmed, in 1629, to the same persons and their asso-
ciates, by the royal corporate charter of the Massachusetts Bay
colony, within the bounds then specified, and afterwards recognized
by the king in council in 1(377. Those bounds included Kumford,
with the consecpLience, that, in its grantees as private persons, was
the right of property in its lands which was in the original grantees
under the Roswell deed.

The Bow proprietors, on the contrary, asserted that Massachusetts
had never had authority to grant the lands demanded, because " the
settlement of the line" did not define "a new boundary," but was
" a declaration by his Majesty of what was always the true boundary
of" the two provinces; hence, the lands in dispute had always lain
in New Hampshire, and, consequently, out of the jurisdiction of
Massachusetts. And as "the right of granting lands is limited to
the right of jurisdiction," the grant made by the government of that
province "was void ah initio, and the settlers under" it "could
derive no title to themselves, but " were to " be looked upon as
disseizors." And "as their entry was recent when Bow was
granted, the proprietors might lawfully enter upon " the lands ;
" especially considering that the government of New Hampshire had
' forewarned ' the committee who were on the business of beginning
the settlement of Penacook," and forbidden them to proceed. In
fine, " there was really nothing in the way of the proprietors of Bow,
any more than if there had been nobody there."

In reply, the defendant insisted that when the lands at Penacook
were granted, " the government of Massachusetts had the jurisdiction
in fact," and " exercised all powers and authorities, both legislative
and executive, over all places to the line three miles northward of
the Merrimack," and had done so, " till the last settlement " ; and
that these acts " were never annulled or declared to be void," by the
king ; " as must have been the case, had the plaintiffs' notion been
entertained, that the settlement of the line was only a declaration of
what was always the true boundary of the provinces — or that all
which Massachusetts had done in this regard was a mere nullity."
"And if the King," it was asked, " has not seen it proper to nullify
all those acts of government what have the plaintiffs to do in the
case ? " It seemed " necessary that all should be deemed valid, or all
void; for by what rule " could " a distinction be fixed?" Indeed, so

202 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

far had the king been from imputing usurpation to Massachusetts in
this respect, or annulling its acts, that he had approved and confirmed
the important one of chartering the township of Rumford. " Besides,
the settlement of the line was," as the king himself had declared, " to
settle the jurisdiction, not to affect private property." The acts done
by either government within its limits, " before the settlement," were
to " be held valid to all intents, to avoid that confusion which the
contrary notion would necessarily introduce," by " connecting ideas
which have no necessary connection " ; namely, " that the rights of
government and the rights of property are always united, or that the
latter have a necessary dependence on the former " ; — a notion,
" which, with respect to this very line," had, " in fact, stirred a multi-
tude of suits. If this opinion was true, the jurisdiction of a govern-
ment ought never to be altered, without first hearing all parties hav-
ing any real estate between the old and the new line. In what case
of this nature was this ever done?'' And yet, according to this
notion, the alteration of a line, " without hearing such parties, and
determining their respective rights, would be productive of the great-
est mischief to private persons " holding real estate under " the gov-
ernment whose jurisdiction should be contracted, by exposing them '"
to ruinous litigation, if not to ruin itself. From such considerations,
the futility of the plaintiffs' objection to the defendant's title in this
respect became apparent, as well as the soundness of the position
" that the grants made by Massachusetts before settlement of the "
boundary " line, within the jurisdiction " which that province " then
had in fact, as well as other acts of government," could not but " be
held good — the grant under which the defendant " held " among the
rest."

Nor did the defense fail cogently to enforce the fact that the gran-
tees of Penacook had made the most of their title and possession. It
was earnestly set forth that, " notwithstanding their distance from
other settlements within, and with none without them " ; notwith-
standing " the hardships and difficulties necessarily " attending
" those who first sit down upon land in a perfect wilderness ; and
especially," notwithstanding " the danger, expense, and fatigue of an
Indian war, and other discouragements, — these settlers" had "stood
their ground ever since their first entry " ; had " persevered in their
resolution " ; had " planted a fine town, supplied themselves and
many others with provisions, afforded other places both defence and
sustenance, and " were " likely to be a great advantage to the prov-
ince of New-Hampshire in general." " Yet these," it was indignantly
declared, " are the people whom the proprietors of Bow would eject ;
would oust, not only of their all, but of that all they have thus dearly

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 203

purchased." These proprietors would now " cruelly ravish " from
such a people " all of their improvements, after they themselves, with
folded arms and indolence, have stood by a long time, and seen the
others, with the greatest toil and expense, make these improvements.
For to this day, these proprietors of Bow have not settled five fami-
lies within their whole township. They have not in the run of twenty
years done so much toward settling a plantation as they might have
done, and as the others did in two years ; yet they are so partial to
themselves, so blinded by interest, as to think, that, because they
once run a line round this land, above twenty years ago, they have
an indefeasible right to it, which yet they are unwilling to have
brought to the test, and decided fairly in the cheapest way, but en-
deavor, by piecemeal, to destroy the possessors." For they prosecute
" a great number of actions, each for a small parcel of land, that may
prevent an appeal home, and that they may have the advantage of the
ignorance and prejudice of common juries." Besides, they have " in
view to weary out and dishearten the defendants, who live at a great
distance from Portsmouth, where all the courts are held, with the
expense of charges occasioned them by such a number of suits ;
whereas they might as well have taken an action for all that lies in
common, in the name of the proprietors of Bow, against the proprie-
tors of Rumford, as well as the action against the present defendant,
and others of the like kind. In fine, it seems they have set their
eyes and hearts upon this vineyard, and perfas aut nefas, they must
have it."

The case was summed up in the following words : " The defendant
has entered, subdued and cultivated the lands demanded ; reduced
them from the rough condition in which nature left them, to the
state of a garden, in which labor he has spent more than twenty years ;
while the plaintiffs have been looking on, neither asserting their
claim nor attempting to settle any other part of their lands. Whether
the defendant has any title or not, the plaintiffs ought not to recover,
if they do not make out the title they set up. The government of
New Hampshire did not extend to the place where these lands lay on
the westerly side of Merrimack river, and therefore no right could be
derived from" that government; "and if the government had reached
so far, the Crown had long before divested itself of all right to the
soil, which was afterwards in Sir Henry Roswell " and others, or in
those holding by grant from them. If that was not the case, it was
Mr. Mason's right, or those who have his right, from whom the plain-
tiffs have derived no title, because the defendant was in possession at
the time of making the deed and release aforesaid. If the release
operates as to these lands, it is in favor of the defendant. The de-

204 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

fendant has a good right under the government of the Massachusetts
Bay, as" that province "had the jurisdiction in fact, and moreover
had the right of the soil by the deed and other matters aforesaid.
Add to all this, that whoever settles land in the wilderness, which
before served only as a shelter and nursery for wild beasts, and a
lurking-place for the more savage animals, the Indians, not only pur-
chases it at a dear rate, and has a hard bargain, though it is given to
him, — but does public service. In which regard the whole town of
Rumford merits the thanks of the government, instead of being
turned out of doors. And what may be said in behalf of the defend-
ant in this case may, with the same propriety, be urged in behalf of
those other inhabitants of Rumford, with whom these proprietors, or
those who derived their right from them, are now contending, and
who have actions in the courts under continuance."

Such being the state of the case in the action against John Mer-
rill, and in others like it, one finds the results in the New Hamp-
shire courts fitly characterized by Judge Pickering as having " been
against common right, the common known principles of law, and
plain common sense," and obtained by the plaintiffs, on verdicts
of juries in their interest, and " entire strangers to these things, or
under the influence of a principle worse than ignorance." There
was no hope of honest treatment for the harassed settlers of Rum-
ford, in the courts of New Hampshire ; only in England, if any-
where, could they hope for a fair hearing of their cause. Accord-
ingly, on the 12th of February, 1753, the inhabitants appointed
Reverend Timothy Walker and Benjamin Rolfe, Esq., as their
agents, to represent to the king their unhappy condition, oppressed
as they were by unfair litigation, and deprived of all corporate
privileges. It was determined that Mr. Walker should go to Eng-
land, and there in person urge their appeal for justice. To forward
this purpose, the general court of Massachusetts, upon petition,
granted one hundred pounds sterling, and also instructed Mr. Bollan,
the Massachusetts agent in England, " to use his endeavors to obtain
such determination of His Majesty in Council as should quiet the
gnintees of lands from that province, in their possessions." 1 To
this movement not only the proprietors and inhabitants of Rumford
contributed, but also the troubled settlers of Suncook. Though the
case of the latter differed from that of the former, inasmuch as Sun-
cook's grant was subsequent to that of Bow ; yet in the actual pre-
occupancy of the soil by enterprising settlers, and the harassment of
these by the non-resident proprietors of Bow, the two settlements
were equally worthy of the royal interposition.

1 Annals of Concord, 33.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 205

Mr. Walker went to England in the fall of 1753, and, without
delay, presented " to the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council "
a petition 1 in behalf of himself and his co-agent Rolfe, and "the
other inhabitants of Rumford." The petition, drawn up in effective
terms, by the minister himself, described the granting of " the lands
contained in Rumford, 1 ' and "the bringing forward of the settle-
ment " under many difficulties, including " war with the French and
Indians," until "a considerable town'* had been made, "consisting
of more than eighty houses, and as many good farms ; " and having,
since 1730, the petitioner, as the " regularly ordained minister of
the church and parish." It was further represented that the peti-
tioners, though unexpectedly thrown, "by the late determination of
the boundary line, within the province of New-Hampshire" and
though denied their request to " be restored to the province of the
Massachusetts Bay," had yet " dutifully submitted to " the new
jurisdiction, " and with so much the greater cheerfulness, because
they were well informed that " the king had " been graciously
pleased to declare that however the jurisdiction of the two gov-
ernments might be altered, private property should not be affected
thereby. But notwithstanding this most gracious declaration " the
" poor petitioners " had " for several years past been grievously
harassed by divers persons, under color of a grant made by the
governor and council of New-Hampshire, in the year 1727, to sundry
persons and their successors, now called the Proprietors of Bow.
The said grant of Bow was." however, "not only posterior to that
of Rumford, but" was k - extremely vague and uncertain as to its
bounds."' Moreover, "notwithstanding the grant was made so many
years ago, there " were " but three or four families settled upon it,
and those since the end of the late French war ; the proprietors
choosing rather to distress " the " petitioners by forcing them out
of the valuable improvements they and their predecessors " had
" made at the expense of their blood and treasure, than to be at the
charge of making any themselves." " But," as was urged, " the
petitioners' greatest misfortune " was "that they " could "not have
a fair impartial trial," since the province authorities, civil and judi-
cial, were all in the interest of their adversaries. Besides, " all the
actions that " had " hitherto been brought " were each designedly
"of so small value that no appeals could be taken from the judg-
ments therein, to the King in Council ; and if it were otherwise,
the charges that would attend such appeals would be greater than
the value of the land, or than " what " the party defending his title
would be able to pay " ; so that " without " the king's " gracious

1 Bouton's Concord, 214-15.

206 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

interposition " the petitioners would be compelled to give up their
estates. The further complaint was made that the petitioners, since
the expiration of the district act near four years ago, had been with-
out any town privileges, notwithstanding their repeated applications
to the governor and council ; and they were not able to raise moneys
for the support of their minister, and the necessary charges of their
school and poor, and other purposes, nor had they had any town
officers for upholding government and order. Under these their
distresses the petitioners entreated the king's gracious interposition
in their behalf, and that he would be pleased to appoint disinter-
ested, judicious persons to hear and determine their cause, and that
the expense necessarily attending the multiplied lawsuits as then
managed, might be prevented ; or, finally, to grant them such other
relief as to his great wisdom and goodness should seem meet.

This petition, and Judge Pickering's lucid statement of the case —
much of which has already been cited — so clearly setting forth the
grievances of Rumford, were well adapted to gain a special hearing
in a test case before the king in council, the regular appeal of which
thither could not be obtained from the provincial courts. Sanction
was given for such a hearing in the case of John Merrill, which was
put into the hands of Sir William Murray — soon to become Lord
Mansfield — whose services, as counsel, Mr. Walker was fortunate
enough to secure. Sir William — at that time forty-eight years of
age — stood, in his wide and thorough knowledge of the law, and in
his powers of eloquent advocacy, at the head of the bar in England. 1
He had been for eleven years solicitor-general, and as a member of
the Pelham administration was one of the most conspicuous figures
in the parliamentary history of the time. This accomplished lawyer
and statesman took up with zeal the cause of the oppressed farmers
of Rumford. In the autumn of 1758 an order for a hearing was
procured. But the hearing did not come off immediately, and Mr.
Walker returned home with encouragement for his people. The
agents of the Bow proprietors made preparation by petitioning the
general assembly, in July, 1754, to lend them the sum of one
hundred pounds sterling money, to enable them to carry on a suit
before His Majesty in Council now depending there between one
Merrill and the said proprietors. 2 The prayer was granted. In
October, of that year, Mr. Walker was still at home from his first
visit, though about to set out upon his second; while Rolfe, his
efficient co-worker, was petitioning the general court of Massachu-
setts for additional pecuniary assistance, which was promptly ren-
dered.

^Enc. Brit., Vol. XV, 498-9.

* Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 294; " Bow," in History of Belknap and Merrimack Counties, 269.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 207

Mr. Walker returned to England, and was there in the winter of
1754-55 ; and on the 24th of the succeeding June, the Merrill case
was decided by the king in council. The decision was a reversal of
the judgment that stood against 1 the defendant in New Hampshire,
as recovered by the proprietors of Bow, on the first Tuesday of
August, 1753. It is the testimony of Lord Mansfield himself, that
" the false laying out of Bow " was, in truth, the only point consid-
ered in determining the case. " The Lords not being clear as to the
other point,"' namely, " the order of the King respecting private prop-
erty, laid hold of 1 ' the former, "and, — merely out of tenderness to
possession and cultivation, which, they said, in America was almost
everything, — determined as they did/' 1 A royal order confirmed
the determination, and its reversal of the New Hampshire judgment,
— as in the subsequent case of appeal in 1762 ; but as it did not, in
express terms, extend beyond the premises sued for, the adversaries
did not cease from troubling with further litigation. It may be per-
mitted here to add the fact that the mission of Rumford's agent in
this case, and the substantial sympathy manifested by Massachusetts,
alarmed somewhat the New Hampshire government, so that in Feb-
ruary, 1754, Mr. Thomlinson, the agent in London, was "put on the
watch " of Mr. Walker, for fear that the latter might, under the
instruction of the government of the Massachusetts Bay, " manage
the affair" upon which he was sent, so as to "affect the province as
such.'* 2 The alarm thus vaguely expressed in the assembly's vote
seems to have resembled not a little that of the persons in the proverb,
who flee when no man pursueth.

In 1753 the New Hampshire government renewed the exaction of
the province tax, and thus was opened another troublesome contro-
versy for Rumford and Suncook. This act was one step more in a
policy of compelling the settlements which Massachusetts had founded
to become a part of Bow. On the 30th of May of that year a war-
rant was issued for the assessment and collection of sixty pounds on
all polls and estates ratable by law within the township of Bow. This
warrant was followed by another, on the 26th of July, for raising a
tax of thirty-one pounds four shillings. These taxes were to be col-
lected and paid into the province treasury by the 25th of December
ensuing ; and the persons on whom they were to be laid were, with
three or four exceptions, inhabitants of Rumford and Suncook. 3 On
the 30th of June, between the dates of the warrants, — since hith-
erto Bow had never had a regular town meeting, — a special act was

1 Petition of Timothy Walker, Jr., and others, June 26, 1774, to general court of Massachu-
setts, for an equivalent to Penacook grant, N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 61-2.

2 Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 253.

3 Bouton's Concord, 211.

208 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

passed, appointing Daniel Pierce, the province recorder, and an
agent of the Bow proprietors, to call such a meeting. Accordingly,
one was held on the 25th of July, at which Moses Foster, John
Coffin, Richard Eastman, David Abbot, and William Moor were
chosen selectmen. They were all of Suncook, for it is safe to con-
clude that nobody from Rumford took part in the meeting. To these
selectmen fell the task of assessing the taxes ordered. But they
found it too hard for them to do, for reasons assigned, on the 26th
of October, in their petition to the province authorities, and in the
following terms : " We are at a loss as to the boundaries of said Bow,
and, consequently, do not know who the inhabitants are that we are
to assess said sums upon. The proprietors of Bow, in running out
the bounds of said town have, as we conceive, altered their bounds
several times ; and further, one of those gentlemen that purchased
Captain Tufton Mason's right to the lands in said Province has given
it as his opinion, that said proprietors have not as yet run out the
lands of said town agreeable to their charter, but that their southeast
side line should be carried up about three quarters of a mile further
toward the northwest; and there is lately — by his order — a fence
erected along some miles, near about said place, designed — as we
suppose — as a division fence between said Bow and land yet claimed
by said purchasers. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Penny-
cook, formerly erected into a district by a special act of the General
Assembly of this Province, — though they object nothing against sub-
mitting to order of government, — refuse to give us an invoice of
their estates (that is, such of them as we have asked for the same),
alleging that they do not lie in Bow, and the said Assembly did as
good as declare this in their said district act. So that, upon the
whole, we humbly conceive . . . that, should we proceed to
assess the aforesaid sums on such as we may have conceived are the
inhabitants of said Bow, many would refuse to pay the sums that
should be so assessed on them ; and, consequently, that we should
be thrown into so many lawsuits as would, in all probability, ruin us
as to our estates. Therefore, we humbly crave that Your Excellency
and Honors would ... fix the boundaries of Bow, or otherwise
give us such directions as, ... if followed by us, we may obey
the commands laid on us . without . . . detriment to

ourselves." 1

Nothing came of the petition, or of this attempt at imposing a tax.
In 1755 another attempt was made to organize the town of Bow, by
merging therein Rumford and Suncook, and taxing their inhabitants
as belonging to Bow. On the 24th of January was passed an act enti-

1 Bouton's Concord, 212, 213.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 209

tied "An act for raising and collecting sundry sums in bills of credit on
this Province due from sundry places unto the government, which can-
not be raised and collected for want of a law to enable some person or
persons to collect the same." x To make application of this act to Bow,
Jonathan Lovewell was appointed to warn a town-meeting to be held
there, on the 22d of April. 2 On the 21st of May he reported to the
authorities that he had notified the inhabitants of the town of Bow
of the time and place for holding a town-meeting, and that he did
attend the same at the time and place appointed, but the inhabitants
neglected to attend, except one man. 3 In resentment for this refusal
of the men of Kumford and Suncook to appropriate the name, "The
inhabitants of Bow,'" at the expense of former identity, and to the
peril of former rights and advantages, an act was passed by the pro-
vincial legislature, on the 5th of July, entitled " An act for taxing
Bow." This " Bow act," as it was called, after declaring " that in
contempt of the law, and in defiance of the government, the said
town of Bow refused to meet at the time and place appointed,"
etc., designated three men — two of Rumford and one of Suncook—
as assessors; namely, "Ezra Carter and Moses Foster, Esqs., and
John Chandler, Gentleman, all of said Bow." These were to "assess
the polls and estates within the said town of Bow, . . . the sum
of five hundred and eighty pounds and sixteen shillings, new tenor
bills of public credit " ; all " to be completed, and returned to the treas-
urer of the province, within two months after date of the act." They
were to require, upon ten days' notice, true lists of polls and ratable
estates, and to " doom " all persons refusing to give in such lists. If
the assessors should fail or refuse to do their duty, the province treas-
urer was required " to issue his warrant of distress, directed to the
sheriff," to levy the said sum of five hundred and eighty pounds and
sixteen shillings "on their goods and chattels and lands"; and, "in
want thereof, on their body." Timothy AValker, 4 of Rumford, and
John Noyes, of Suncook, were appointed collectors to collect and pay
in the sums on their respective lists, " on penalty of forfeiting and
paying " the same themselves. The compensation offered for this
disagreeable service was as ridiculously inadequate as some of the
other provisions of the act were needlessly harsh ; the assessors being
" entitled to receive each, seven pounds and ten shillings, new tenor,*'
and the collectors, "fifteen pounds, new tenor, each." 5

It was impracticable for the assessors to meet the requisitions
imposed upon them by the act, and hence they became liable to its

> Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 347-8.

2 Bouton's Concord, 216.

3 Coun. Jour., Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 378.

4 Not the minister or his son.

6 See act in office of secretary of state; also, Bouton's Concord, 217.

210 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

penalties. On the 19th of February, 1756, the house, alleging that
they had refused and neglected to make the assessment, ordered
" that the treasurer immediately issue out his extent " against them ;
and " a copy of the order was sent to the treasurer by Clement
March, Esq.," i who was doubtless a willing messenger, for he had
been prominent in the Bow litigation, and, among other doings, had
brought an action against Ebenezer Virgin, which was entered at the
same term of court, as that against John Merrill. 2 On the 18th of
February, the day before this action was taken by the house against
the assessors, a petition from two of them, Ezra Carter and John
Chandler, in behalf of themselves and the inhabitants of Rumford,
had been presented; 3 but, for some reason, not till the 19th, and
after their condemnation, was it read, and laid over for further con-
sideration. 3 The petition showed 3 that one half the time prescribed
for completing and returning the assessment was lapsed before the
assessors had sight of the act ; and it was then the most busy season
in the whole year, and the cattle on which part of the tax was to be
laid were out in the woods, and it was not known whether they were
living, or killed by the enemy, which rendered it almost impracticable
to comply with the letter of the act. The assessors, for the remedying
of these inconveniences, and also in hopes of obtaining some altera-
tions beneficial to themselves and the people they were to tax, would
have addressed the general assembly long before, but their distance
was such that they seldom heard of the adjournments and proroga-
tions thereof before it was too late. Several times had been pitched
upon for said purpose, but before they arrived the assembly was
adjourned. Hut, at last, having an opportunity to lay the affair be-
fore the authorities, they humbly hoped for consideration of their
case and compassion for their circumstances. They could uprightly
answer for themselves, and had reason to believe that they spoke the
united sense of the people of Rumford that they ought to pay their
part of the public charges of the government ; but they humbly
prayed that they might have the privileges of a town or district, in
order to raise money for the maintenance of their minister, school,
and poor, and the repair of highways, for the want of which, for sev-
eral years, the inhabitants had been great sufferers. The petitioners
continued : " We apprehend we are doomed much beyond our just
proportion of the charge, . . . for want of a true list of our polls
and estates, which, we believe, was never laid before the Assembly.
We have been unavoidably subjected to great loss of time, almost

1 Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 476.

1 Court Records, Dec. 6, 1750, et seq,; Rumford Proprietors' Records, Vol. Ill (manuscript),
April 25, 1751.
»Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 475-6-7.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 211

every year, for several years past, by disturbances from the Indians ;
and particularly for the two last years past about a quarter of our
inhabitants have been driven from their settlement during the busy
season of the year, and the whole of them obliged to divert from their
husbandry, in order to repair their garrisons and provide for the
safety of their families. Wherefore your petitioners most humbly
pray that their circumstances may be considered, so that they and
the inhabitants aforesaid may be relieved against the penalties and
rigor of said Act ; also, that a proper method may be prescribed to
have a true list of polls and estates laid before the General Assembly,
so that they may pay no more than their proportion, considering their
situation ; also that they may be incorporated to all the purposes of a
town ; and that the assessors may have a further time allowed to per-
form the business assigned in assessing, and the collectors, in levying,
the sum that," it " shall be finally determined, must be paid by said
inhabitants."

This petition, doubtless, helped to put off indefinitely the issuance
of any warrant of distress against the assessors, and to make the Bow
act a failure : but its prayer for a town charter fell on deaf ears, as
did also that prayer repeated in another petition presented by Ezra
Carter, later in the year.

In course of the year 1756, a committee of the Bow proprietors
came to some accommodation ahd agreement with the proprietors of
Suncook. The terms of the compromise are not known further than
that the Suncook proprietors were to pay a certain fixed price per
acre for the land in dispute. 1 Rumford had no part in this transac-
tion, and Suncook did not thereby, avoid future disputes and law-
suits. 1 In 1739, however, the part of Suncook territory lying east of
the Merrimack and between the Suncook and Soucook rivers, was,
despite the opposition of the Bow proprietors, incorporated as the
parish of Pembroke, and thus, in the matter of public taxation, was
to have no further trouble with the province authorities. But Hum-
ford was not to be free from that trouble for six years yet, as will be
seen in the natural course of narration. Thus, in the spring of 1761,
the government of New Hampshire ordered an inventory of the polls
and ratable estates in the province to be taken. The order for Bow
was delivered to Colonel Jeremiah Stickney of Rumford, who declined
to perform, under the incorporation of Bow, the duty thus assigned.
Soon after, in April, Ezekiel Morrill and Thomas Clough, selectmen of
Canterbury, were assigned the duty, which they performed, returning to
the general court an invoice of the polls, stocks, and improved lands in
the township of Bow, as they expressed it. But the return pertained

1 History of Pembroke, 45.

212 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

to Rumford, except seven of the one hundred and sixty-four persons
rated, a fact denoting how little had been done, in more than the
third of a century, towards settling the township of Bow, under its
charter. This invoice yielded no taxes to the province treasury. 1

Meanwhile, in the course of ten years' litigation, the adversaries of
Rumford brought, instead of their usual piecemeal suits, an action of
ejectment for lands of sufficient value to allow direct appeal to the king
in council. Early in November, 1759, Benjamin Rolfe, Daniel Car-
ter, Timothy Simonds, John Evans, John Chandler, Abraham Colby,
and Abraham Kimball, 2 all of Rumford, were sued, and their goods
and estates were attached by the sheriff of the province, to the value
of one thousand pounds, " to answer unto the proprietors of the com-
mon and undivided lands lying within the township of Bow," who
demanded possession of about one thousand acres of land with appur-
tenances. 2 The land in question was described as, "beginning at a
stake on the southwest of the great river in Bow, one hundred and
sixteen rods below John Merrill's ferry ; thence running west to Tur-
key river until it comes to within twenty rods of Nathaniel Smith's
grist-mill ; thence south to said river ; thence on said river to
where it empties into the great river ; thence up the great river to
the first-mentioned bound." This was a second test case, involving
the same principles, as the first, — or that of John Merrill, — and was
prosecuted and defended with the same allegations and arguments.
It was brought to trial in the inferior court of common pleas, on
the second day of September, 17G0, when the jury, as usual, gave a
verdict for the plaintiffs, and judgment was entered up accordingly
with costs. From this judgment, the defendants were allowed an
appeal to the superior court, where on the second Tuesday of Novem-
ber, 1760, the cause was again tried, and with the same result.
\V hereupon, the defendants took appeal to His Majesty in council,
as, this time, they could not be prevented from doing.

The proprietors of Rumford had all along carefully guarded their
own interests and those of their grantees, and had met the expenses
of litigation by judicious measures; such as, in 1758, the disposal of
" Iron Ore," 3 and in June, 1759, the sale "of so much of the com-
mon and undivided lands as" should " be sufficient to raise a sum of
fifteen hundred Spanish Milled Dollars, for the defense of the pro-
prietors' title to their township against any claim " laid " to the same
or any part thereof," in any court of the province, "or in forwarding
an appeal to His Majesty in Council." 3 Now, in 17(31, when the sec-

1 See invoice of 1761 in note at close of chapter.

2 Report of Lords of Council, December 29, 1762; Appendix to Annals of Concord, 99.

3 Proprietors' Records (manuscript), Vol. III.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 213

ond test case had been appealed home, Rev. Timothy Walker and
Benjamin Rolfe, Esq., were appointed agents to receive any money
granted to enable the proprietors to defend their claims to the lands
in Rumford. 1 This agency was a fitting renewal of that which had
been conferred eight years before upon the same men, whose abiding
faith in the justice of Rnmford's cause had since, as before, been
amply tested in wise counsel and efficient action, and had been, amid
deep popular disheartenment, the light of hope.

In the autumn of 1762 Mr. Walker visited England the third
time ; for the appealed case was, at last, after not a little of the law's
delay, approaching trial. Already he was favorably known in a circle
of valuable acquaintances among ministers of religion, members of
parliament, and members of His Majesty's council. 2 Sir William
Murray, his counselor and advocate in the former case, was now Lord
Mansfield, and chief justice of the king's bench. He presided in
the special court of the right honorable the lords of the committee of
council for hearing appeals from the plantations, to which the king-
had referred the petition and appeal of Benjamin Rolfe, Esq., and
others. The trial came off on the 17th of December, 1762, and re-
sulted favorably to the inhabitants of Rumford.

"The Lords of the Committee of Council for hearing Appeals
from the Plantations " made a report, bearing date of the same 17th
of December. On the 29th of the same month this report was read
at the Court of St. James. The report recited at length the history
of the grants of Rumford and Suncook, and their settlement ; also,
of the establishment of the boundary line, whereby those settlements
were excluded from the province of Massachusetts Bay in which
they had before been thought and reputed to be, and thrown into the
province of New Hampshire. The report continued : " Notwithstand-
ing His Majesty had been pleased at the time of issuing the commis^
sion to fix the boundary, to declare the same was not to affect private
property, yet certain persons in New-Hampshire, desirous to make
the labors of others an advantage to themselves, and possess them-
selves of the towns of Pennicook, — otherwise Rumford, — and Sun-
cook, as now improved by the industry of the appellants, and the
first settlers thereof, whom they seek to despoil of the benefit of all
their labors," had brought " ejectment against them.** Having de-
scribed the special action in hand, and its progress from institution to
appeal, the lords of the committee concluded their report by recom-
mending the reversal of the judgment rendered against the appellants
in the courts of New Hampshire.

1 Proprietors' Records (manuscript) Vol. III.

2 Bouton's Concord, 220.

214 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

The king, on the same day, took the report into consideration, and
was pleased, with the advice of his privy council, to approve thereof,
and to issue the following order : " It is hereby ordered that the said
judgment of the inferior court of common pleas of the province of
New-Hampshire, of the second of September, 1760, and also the
judgment of the superior court of judicature, of the second Tuesday
in November, affirming the same, be both of them reversed, and that
the appellants be restored to what they may have lost by means of
the said judgments, whereof the Governor or Commander-in-chief of
His Majesty's Province of New-Hampshire, for the time being, and
all others whom it may concern, are to take notice and govern them-
selves accordingly."

" What is done, and what was said in the case," wrote Mr. Walker
to Benjamin Rolfe, " if truly represented by anybody whom Bow
will believe, will, I am persuaded, effectually discourage from any
further attempts, even against Suncook — much more against Rum-
ford ; yet I suspect their lawyers will urge them on to further trials
— with what success, time must discover." The royal decision
marked the crisis of the tedious controversy ; not its end, to be sure,
but a sure beginning of that end. Indeed, what the faithful agent
of Rumford " suspected " seems to have come to pass ; for, when,
a dozen years later, his son, Timothy Walker, Jr., and more than
forty other citizens of Rumford, or Concord, petitioned the Massa-
chusetts legislature for a township in Maine, as an equivalent for the
Penacook grant, and in consideration of the expenses incurred in
defending their title to the same, they said : " We have been enabled
to prosecute two appeals to His Majesty, and although in each we
obtained a reversal of the judgment that stood against us here, yet
the royal order, extending in express terms no farther than the land
sued for, the advantage fell far short of the expense, and our adver-
saries went on troubling us with suits. Thus exhausted, and seeing
no end of our troubles, we have been reduced to the necessity of
repurchasing our township of our adversaries at a rate far exceeding
its value in its rude state." ! So it was that the proprietors of Bow,
while not succeeding much in their attempts at direct eviction, did,
still, by oppressive litigation and compulsory compromise, succeed
in getting unjust advantage to themselves. The litigation, however,
was not pressed to the point of a third appeal to England ; though
this result seems to have been imminent in 1766, when, on the 9th of
July, the proprietors of Rumford voted to raise four hundred pounds
sterling to support and defend their claims and those of their gran-

1 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXIV, 61-2. This petition was favorablj' answered by the grant
of the township of Rumford, in Maine, in 1774. See further, Colonization by Concord Settlers,
in note at close of chapter.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY. 21. r >

tees, to said township either in this province or Great Britain;
appointing a committee of thirteen to proportion said sum upon said
proprietors and their grantees ; and, finally, requesting the Reverend
Timothy Walker to prepare all papers that he should think necessary
for the ends aforesaid.

The proprietors' records, under date of July 29, 1771, show the first
provision made for " a final settlement with the proprietors of Bow,"
by the appointment of " Andrew McMillan, Mr. Abial Chandler, and
Captain Thomas Stickney," as a committee to effect that object, and
by the vote " that there be six pounds laid on each original right, to
defray the charges." * For the latter vote was substituted, early in
1773, — by legislative sanction, as it seems, — one raising " six hun-
dred pounds lawful money, by a just and equal assessment on all
the lands within the township to complete the said settlement." l
Assessors and collectors were appointed, and Mr. William Coffin was
chosen proprietors 1 treasurer, with orders " to pay the money as he
received it to the committee formerly chosen to make a settlement
with the proprietors of Bow, upon his receiving the deeds of them to
the value of the money." 1

The contending parties had, by 1771, come to an agreement that
the proprietors of Rumford should have the whole of said township,
except one hundred and sixty-two acres of land, which was to be
laid out by them in some part of the town ; and the proprietors of
Rumford were to pay ten pounds to the proprietors of Bow for each
hundred-acre lot laid out by said Bow in said Rumford. 2 It was one
of the duties of the committee of settlement to receive a quitclaim
deed from the proprietors of Bow, and give them a bond upon inter-
est, for the ten pounds for each hundred-acre lot. 2 The assessment
of six hundred pounds, in 1773, was supposed to be sufficient to pay
the proprietors of Bow, and to give sixty pounds to the Masonian
Proprietors for their pretended right to part of said land. 2 The last
mentioned claim arose from the fact that the quitclaim of Bow,
given by the Masonian Proprietors, in 1746, did not cover the part
of Rumford without the limits of Bow. This part, however, came
within Mason's Patent, which had an extent of " sixty miles from
the sea " on the easterly and southerly side of the province, with
" a line to cross over from the end of one line of sixty miles to the
end of the other." The proprietors pleaded that this cross line,
instead of being straight, " should be a curve, because no other
would preserve the distance of sixty miles from the sea, in every

1 Proprietors' Kecords (manuscript), Vol. III.

2 Petition of Thomas Stickney, surviving member of the settlement committee, to the
N. H. legislature in 1789; see, also, note at close of chapter.

216 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

part of their western boundary." * Under this claim, the part of
Rumford lying outside the vague boundary line of Bow, came within
the Mason Patent; and the proprietors of Rumford quieted their
title in that direction by the payment of sixty pounds. 2

So, at last, the proprietors and occupants of Rumford became
quieted in the possession of their twice-bought lands. With painful
sacrifice, but with unflinching purpose, wise counsel, and united
action, they had held out through the long years of disheartening
controversy, and thereby had saved the life itself of New Hampshire's
future capital.

Notes.

Plan of Grant of Bow with Explanations. The annexed Plan of
the Township of Bow, which, though not drawn with perfect accu-
racy, will help to show, with the following explanations, the grounds
of controversy :

1. Rumford — laid out by Massachusetts, seven miles square and
one hundred rods on the south, is represented by thick black lines.

2. Suncook — laid out also by Massachusetts, south of Rumford, is
(in both sides of the river.

3. Bow — laid out by New Hampshire, represented by double lines
—nine miles square, and apparent on the plan — covering like a

wide sheet nearly the whole territory, both of Rumford and Sun-
cook.

4. The dotted line on the east represents the "three miles north of
the Merrimack river *" claimed by Massachusetts.

5. Canterbury, Chichester, Epsom, and Bow were all granted by
New Hampshire, May 20, 1727, as is believed, without previous
actual survey.

The Associate Grantees of Bow. His Excellency and Honorable
Samuel Shute, Esq., and John Wentworth, Esq., Lieutenant-Gover-
nor — each of them five hundred acres of land and a home lot ; Col-
onel Mark Hunking, Colonel Walton, George Jaffrey, Richard Wibird,
Colonel Shad. Westbrook, Archibald McPheadres, John Frost, Jotham
( Kliorne, Esquires, — members of the Council — each a proprietor's
share ; Peter Wear, John Plaisted, James Davis, John Gilman, An-
drew Wiggin, Captain John Downing, Captain John Gillman, Samuel
Tibbets, Paul Gerrish, Ens. Ephraim Dennet, John Sanburn, Theodore
Atkinson, Ebenezer Stevens, Richard Jennes, Captain William Fel-
lows, James Jeffery, Joseph Loverin, Daniel Loverin, Zah. Hanahford,
Joseph Wiggin, Pierce Long, — members of the Assembly. (Bouton's
Concord, 206.)

1 Belknap, 300. * See note at close of chapter.

THE BOW CONTROVERSY.

217

Pian Illustrating Bow Controversy.

218 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Invoice of 1761. This invoice, mentioned in the text, has historic
value, showing, as it does, somewhat the material condition of Rum-
ford when it was taken. The items, as therein set down, were :
Polls, 154 ; Horses, 91 ; Planting ground, 341 acres ; Mowing land,
498 do. ; Orcharding, 16 do. ; Oxen, 160 ; Cows, 222 ; Cattle, three
yrs. old, 85 ; ditto, two yrs. old, 90 ; ditto, one yr. old, 103 ; Horses,
77 ; ditto, three yrs. old, 12 ; ditto, two yrs. old, 13 ; ditto, one yr.
old, 10; Pasture land, 150 acres; Negroes, 6; Six Mills (yearly
income), XI 25. The valuation for taxing purposes stood as follows:
Polls, £2770 ; Land, £502 10s. ; Horses, £231 ; Oxen, £480 ; Cows,
£444 ; Cattle, three yrs.. old, £145 10s. ; ditto, two yrs. old, £103 ;
ditto, one yr. old, £56 10s. ; Slaves, £96 — making in all £4,828 10s.,
and with Doomage £1000 added, £5,828 10s.

Thomas Stichney's Petition in 1789. In answer to this petition an
act was passed, authorizing "the proprietors of Rumford, alias Con-
cord, to collect a certain tax." This tax was a balance of the
assessment of 1773, the collection of which was necessary to the full
discharge of the bonds given to the Bow proprietors.

The Masonian Line. In 1788 a committee appointed to run the
" straight line " of the Masonian claim, reported to the New Hamp-
shire legislature that it crossed "Merrimack river in Concord on
Sewall's Falls." [House Journal, February 1, 1788 ; cited by Otis
G. Hammond in paper entitled " SewalFs Falls Historically Con-
sidered," published in Granite Monthly, February, 1896.] The Ma-
sonian proprietors had, thereupon, bought of the state the disputed
segment of land between the arc of the " curved line " and its chord,
the "straight line."

Colonization by Concord Settlers.

[FURNISHED BY JOSEPH B. WALKER.]

Concord, unlike most New Hampshire towns, was colonized, and
not formed by gradual accretions from time to time to its population.
Some thirty years after its settlement, when the close of the last
French and Indian War had opened northwestern New England to
settlement, Concord sent considerable numbers of its people to the
Pigwacket country, to assist in founding new towns on the Saco at
Fryeburg, Maine, and Conway, New Hampshire.

To the former it sent Moses Ames, James Clemons, Robert Brad-
ley, John Bradley, Samuel A. Bradley, Abraham Bradley, John
Evans, Uavid Evans, Philip Eastman, John L. Eastman, Stephen
Farrington, Daniel Farrington, Nathaniel Merrill, Samuel Osgood,
David Page, John Webster, Nathaniel Smith, Timothy Walker, and
Ezekiel Walker.

COLONIZATION BY CONCORD SETTLERS. 219

To the latter it sent Jedediah Spring, Andrew McMillan, Thomas
Chadborne, Richard Eastman, Thomas Merrill, Abial Lovejoy, Ben-
jamin Osgood, James Osgood, and a Mr. Dolloff.

Further investigation would doubtless show that these lists are far
from complete and might be considerably enlarged.

To these, former members of his parish and more or less of them
of his church, the first minister of Concord made pastoral visits from
time to time, until they had formed local churches and pastors had
been settled. Records of such visits are found in some of his diaries
which have been preserved. From these it appears that he visited
them in the autumns of 1764 and 1766, partaking of their hospitality,
preaching to them on Sundays and baptizing their infant children.
In the latter year, according to his record, he administered baptism to
no less than eleven. The journey thither was by way of Kennebunk
and occupied a little more than three days.

Sometimes his son, Timothy Walker, in the ministry at this time,
acted as his substitute. By his diary, it appears that he was with
them on similar services in 1765 from the nineteenth day of July to
the third day of September, a period of some forty-five days. But,
loyal to the principles which they had brought with them from their
former homes, they soon organized churches and settled permanent
pastors at these new homes of their adoption.

Some sixteen years later, a much larger emigration commenced
going out from Concord to found a new town upon the Androscoggin,
in Maine. ( )f this movement authentic records have been preserved
which give in detail its origin and early progress. From these it
appears that a little before the breaking out of the Revolutionary War
(January 26, 1774) Timothy Walker, Jr., of Concord, in behalf of
himself and his associates, presented a petition to the government of
Massachusetts Bay, setting forth the trials and expense of the settlers
of Concord in maintaining their rights against the Bow proprietors,
and asking consideration therefor in the grant to them of a township
in Maine, to lie on each side of the Androscoggin river, of equal
extent to that granted by Massachusetts to the settlers of Concord.

In response to this petition the general court of Massachusetts
granted to the original proprietors of Concord, who were sufferers by
reason of that township's falling into New Hampshire, a township of
seven miles square to be laid out in regular form on both sides of the
Androscoggin river, easterly of and adjoining Fullerstown, so called,
otherwise Sudbury, Canada, provided the grantees within six years
settle thirty families in said township and lay out one full share to
the first settled minister, one share for the ministry, one share for the
school, and one share for Harvard college, and provided the petition-

220 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ers within one year return a plan thereof to be accepted and con-
firmed by the general court.

A committee was also appointed to go to Concord (Pennycook) to
inquire into and make out a list of the sufferers. November 8, 1774,
in compliance with this resolution the committee made a report of
the following list of individuals to whom " Rights " and the number
thereof should be assigned, and their action was confirmed by the
general court:

To Timothy Walker, Jr., 3 rights ; George Abbot, 2 ; Thos. Stick-
ney, 3 ; John Chandler, 3 ; William Coffin, 1 ; Ebenezer Hall, 1 ;
Jno. Merrill, 1 ; Amos Abbot, 2 ; Edward Abbot, 2 ; Ephraim Far-
num, Jr., 1 ; Benjamin Farnum, 2 ; Joseph Farnum, 1 ; Timo. Brad-
ley, 1 ; Rev. Timo. Walker, 2 ; Joseph Eastman, 1 ; Aaron Stephens,
2 ; Moses Hall, 1 ; Philip Kimball, 1 ; Ebenezer Eastman, 1 ; David
Hall, 1 ; Philip Eastman, 2 ; James Walker, 1 ; Chas. Walker, 1 ;
Richard Hazeltine, 1 ; Paul Walker, 1 ; Jeremiah Bradley, 1 ; Han-
nah Osgood, 2 ; Asa Kimball, 1 ; Moses Eastman, 1 ; John Bradley,
1 ; Jona. Stickney, 1 ; Reuben Kimball, 1 ; Benj. Abbot, 1 ; Joshua
Abbot, 1 ; Abiel Chandler, 5 ; Timothy Walker, Tertius, 1 ;
Nathaniel Eastman, 2 ; Heirs of Ebenezer Virgin, 3 ; Peter Green,
1 ; Ephraim Carter, 1 ; Heirs of Jeremiah Dresser, 1 ; Nath. Rolfe,
1 ; John Chase, 1 ; Benja. Thompson, 1 ; Paul Rolfe, 5; Ebenezer
Harnden Goss, 4 ; Nathan Abbot, 1; Gustavus Adolphus Goss, 1;
Robert Davis, 3-4 ; Anna Stevens, 1-4 ; Henry Lovejoy, 1-4 ; Phineas
Kimbal, 1-4.

These parties, sixty-six in number, were all of Concord, and the
number of rights assigned them was eighty-two and three fourths.

The remaining seventeen and one quarter rights were given to
eighteen persons residing in other places. Thus it appears that a
little over four fifths were given to residents of Concord.

The distractions of the Revolutionary War prevented a full com-
pliance with the terms of the grant within the time specified therein.
This, however, was extended in 1779, after which settlements made
such progress that on the 21st of February, 1800, the plantation of
New Pennycooke became by incorporation the town of Rumford,
named from the parent town from which so many of its people had
emigrated.

At this time a second generation had been reared upon the farms
of Concord, which greatly outnumbered the original occupants and
for which they afforded an inadequate support. In short, " the eagle
was stirring up her nest " and pushing out her young to careers
elsewhere. Naturally many of them, under the rights assigned to

COLONIZATION BY CONCORD SETTLERS. 221

their fathers or to themselves, sought new homes at New Pennycook,
on the Androscoggin.

Strangely like was this locality to the old Pennycook on the Mer-
rimack where they had first seen the light. At both places the river
bisected the township and flowed through fertile intervals which
lined its banks. Near the northern border of the former the Ellis
river entered the Androscoggin to increase its volume, just as at the
northern border of the latter the Contoocook joined the Merrimack ;
while, furthermore, as just over the southern line of the latter the last
named river made an important descent of some twenty-five feet, so
just within the former's southern boundary, the Androscoggin made a
single plunge of forty, and thence hastened down rapids of more than
half as much more in the next eighty rods of its course. And to
still further enhance the likeness, the flood plains of the Merrimack,
rising to terraces of higher ground and backed by hill ranges of
granite formation, were almost exactly duplicated on the Andros-
coggin.

Moreover, as if these topographical similarities were not enough, a
parallel equally surprising was to be found, two generations ago, by
a visitor from the older town to the new, in a duplication, at the
younger, of the surnames of his neighbors at home. Never did a fair
daughter more closely resemble a fair mother ; never did a hardy son
more exactly reflect the characteristics of a stalwart father.

Hard indeed was it for this visitor to realize that he had wandered
an hundred and twenty miles from the old Rumford on the Merri-
mack and found its near facsimile in a new Rumford on the Andros-
coggin, for, scattered over this new town, were families whose names
had been familiar to him from his earliest days: of Abbot, David,
Henry, Jacob, Moses, and Philip ; of Farnum, Benjamin, David, and
Stephen ; of Hall, Daniel, Jeremiah, and Joseph ; of Hutchins, David
and Hezekiah ; of Martin, Daniel, John, and Kimball ; of Virgin,
Daniel, Ebenezer, Peter C, Phineas, Simeon, and William ; of
Wheeler, Abel and William ; of families bearing the surnames of
Carter, Colby, Eastman, Eaton, Elliot, Hoyt, Kimball, Knight, Page,
Putnam, Rolfe, Sweat, and Walker. This list, partial only, might be
much enlarged by the addition of the names of women who, singly or
as the wives of settlers, found new homes in this new town in the
district of Maine. It suffices, however, accompanied with that before
presented of some of the first settlers of Fryeburg and Conway, on
the Saco, to establish the proposition at first enunciated, — that Con-
cord, itself originally a colony, became in time a colonizer of new
communities.

CHAPTER VII.

The Last French and Indian War. — Rumford Becomes

Concord, a Parish of Bow.

1754-1765.

While the war of land titles was raging, the last French and
Indian War came on, and the alarm along the frontier, which had
hardly subsided during the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, was renewed.
Military hostilities existed in America for two years before the actual
declaration of war in Europe, in 175(3.

Even at an earlier date the Indian allies of France had, with or
without French instigation, been troublesome along the New Hamp-
shire frontier. As early as 1752 they had shown a mischievous dis-
position. During the last days of April four hunters — Amos East-
man 1 of Rumford, John Stark and his brother William of Derryfield, 2
and David Stinson of Londonderry, while trapping along Baker's river,
within the present limits of Rumney, fell in with a scout of ten St.
Francis Indians headed by Thomas Titigaw. The trappers had been
successful, having collected furs to the value of more than five hun-
dred pounds. Though " they seasonably discovered " the savages,
yet " they gave them no offence, . . . but esteeming it a time of
peace with all the Indians who owned themselves the subjects of the
French king," and being "free from any expectation of any hostilities
being committed against them," they " peaceably applied themselves
to their business." 3 They were about to return home when, towards
evening of the 28th of April, the Indians rising from ambush, cap-
tured John Stark, who, apart from his friends, was busy in taking up
traps. His companions, alarmed at his prolonged absence, discharged
guns in the night, and thus discovered their encampment to the sav-
ages, whom their wily prisoner had led two miles in a contrary direc-
tion. Early next morning the three hunters, suspecting that their
comrade had been captured, left the encampment to go down the
river ; Eastman passing on foot along the bank, Stinson and William
Stark taking a canoe. The Indians retraced to the encampment the
route over which John Stark had misled them, and made an ambus-

1 A son of Jonathan Eastman, who had a garrison on the Hopkinton road in the previous
war.

2 Afterwards Manchester.

'Affidavit of John and William Stark and Amos Eastman, May 21, 1754; N. H. Prov.
Papers, Vol. V, 309.

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 223

cade below, in which they captured Eastman. They ordered " John
to hail the boat and bid the occupants to come on shore." He hailed
the boat, but urged its occupants " to escape to the opposite shore."
They were doing so when ten Indian muskets were leveled at them;
and though Stark, with the courage characteristic of the future ranger
and Revolutionary commander, " struck up " the guns within his
reach, yet the shot of the others killed Stinson and hit the paddle
held by William Stark. John shouted to his brother to flee, for the
Indians had emptied all their guns ; and William heeding the advice
got away. The baffled captors severely beat their undaunted cap-
tive ; and appropriating the rich store of furs, set out with their two
prisoners for Canada. Their course lay by the Lower 1 and Upper 2
Coos, at the former of which had been left two of the original party
to prepare supplies for the returning scout. Eastman was sent at
once to Canada, with three of the party, where he was sold to a
Frenchman; Stark was retained with the others, who tarried some
time in hunting, and reached St. Francis early in June. He remained
in captivity about five weeks. In July both he and Eastman were
redeemed by agents of Massachusetts — Eastman for sixty dollars ;
Stark for one hundred and three.

John Stark's bold demeanor during his captivity was a charm
against violence. Eastman, less defiant and dexterous, was, in run-
ning the gauntlet at St. Francis, quite spent from the club blows
showered upon him by young warriors in the files between which he
was compelled to run, while Stark dashed along between the threat-
ening lines, smiting right and left with the conventional pole tipped
with a loon skin, and returned with a knock-down blow each stroke
ventured at him, — thus passing the ordeal unharmed, and pleasing the
older men of the village by discomfiting the youngsters. When, too,
after having in vain tried to rid himself of the task of hoeing com,
by nurturing the weeds and destroying the corn, he contemptuously
threw his hoe into the river, declaring that " it was the business of
squaws, not of warriors, to hoe corn," his captors, fascinated by his
boldness, took it in good part, and called him " the young chief."
So he was a favorite in the school of captivity, learning much of
Indian ways that was to stand him in good stead thereafter.

Upon the return of William Stark with news of the affair, a
party — of which were Phineas Virgin, Joseph and Moses East-
man 3 — went up from Rumford to Baker's river, and finding the
body of Stinson, laid it in a grave in the lonely woods, with a brook,

1 Haverhill.
* Lancaster.

» Bouton's Concord, 193 (note). Potter, in History of Manchester, 277, says the party con-
sisted of Nathaniel Eastman, Timothy Bradley, and Phineas Virgin.

224 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

a pond, and a mountain near by, to bear the hunter's name and to
commemorate the event in which he lost his life.

In May, just after the affair at Baker's river, Indians from St.
Francis made their appearance at Canterbury. Two of these —
if there were any others — were Sabbatis and Christo, who had for-
merly lived in the Merrimack valley. What might be the import of
their advent was uncertain, and some alarm was felt in the vicinity,
so the minister of Rumford — esteemed by the red men — went to
( Janterbury on a mission of conciliation. The well-intentioned effort
was, probably, not entirely fruitless, though Sabbatis especially
" discovered a restless and malicious disposition," and after some
days, both disappeared, taking with them two kidnapped negro
slaves. The appearance of the Canadian savages at Canterbury had
more than an accidental connection with the affair at Baker's river ;
both incidents, in fact, resulted from the ill feeling aroused among
the St. Francis Indians, by a movement in New Hampshire, sup-
ported by the government, looking to the white occupation of the
" Coos Meadows." To this scheme the Indians were bitterly op-
posed ; and finally they remonstrated so earnestly, and threatened so
fiercely, that the design of settling immediately that desirable region
was relinquished. It was suspected that the French themselves
were at the bottom of this Indian opposition, inasmuch as they
would naturally desire to keep open the easy way for predatory
excursions from Canada through Coos county; and it was feared
that they might attempt to take armed possession by erecting a fort
in that neighborhood.

In June of the next year Sabbatis appeared again in Canterbury —
this time in company with one Plausawa. The conduct of these
Indians soon became so outrageous that their lives were threatened
by the inhabitants, and they went to Contoocook. There continuing
their insolent behavior, and boasting of former robberies and murders
in the neighborhood, they were despatched by Peter Bowen, a rough
hunter, — in self-defense, as some accounts allege. By the stipula-
tions of sundry Indian treaties, the province authorities were bound
to take cognizance of such an act; hence Bowen, and another named
Morrill, who was supposed to have been concerned in the deed, were
indicted and jailed at Portsmouth. But on the night before the
day for trial, they were forcibly rescued by a body of men from
Canterbury, Contoocook, and other places. A proclamation was
issued, and a reward offered by the governor, " for apprehending the
rioters ; but no discovery was made, and the action was even deemed
meritorious." 1 But the spirit of revenge was inflamed in the tribe

1 Belknap, 308.

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 225

to which the victims belonged; and on the 11th of May, 1754, thirty
avengers visited Contoocook and Stevenstown, 1 rifled a house in the
former place, and carried away into captivity, from the latter, the
Maloon family — the father and mother, a son, and two daughters.
Twenty men were forthwith ordered out by Governor Wentworth
to guard the exposed localities for a month ; but no Indians were
seen.

When, in the year 1754, hostile operations between France and
England were commenced near the head of the Ohio, — though with-
out actual declaration of war, — the Indian allies of the French
became more aggressive than before, along the frontiers of New
England, including those of New Hampshire. At Stevenstown, 2
on the 15th of August, they killed Philip Call's wife and Timothy
Cook, and carried three men into captivity. Governor Wentworth
at once sent two detachments of " troop " to the exposed neighbor-
hood ; and ordered Colonel Joseph Blanchard to raise fifty men from
his regiment, to march, under an officer " to be confided in, to Con-
toocook and Stevenstown to relieve the detachment of horse posted
there." 3 Captain John Goffe, of Amoskeag, was detailed for this
service. Reporting to Colonel Blanchard from Contoocook on the
first day of September, the captain writes : 4 " I arrived at Pennicook
ab't 12 o'clock on Thursday, where I met the troop who came down
to guard 10 or 12 horses to mill, and I took their places, and they
went home, and I got safe to the fort at Contoocook with all
those that went to mill. . . . We have done considerable in
guarding the people whose hay was cut before the mischief was
done, and has lain ever since till we came ; and a great deal more
hay & grain we must guard them to get, or they will loose it. And
we shall do what we can for them, as souldiers ; for they are here
more concerned than ever I knew them any time last war, and durst
not go anywhere without a guard. I have not bin to Stevenstown
yet, & its that dangerous to attempt without any more men. There
is nobody there ; but I am informed that there is a great deal of good
corn there which it 's pitty should be lost. But four or five of the
inhabitants will go back, & them not without twenty men at least, as
souldiers with them. The Indians are certainly about; they are
tract, & guns heard every day almost, in the woods, ... I pray
you would send me express what I shall do ab't going to Stevens-
town ; if I have no more men, if I go, I must take them all with me,
& I do n't see but Contoocook must loose or sell or kill most of their

1 Salisbury.

2 This occurred in the east part of Salisbury, which afterwards became a part of Franklin.
The Maloon affair, in the spring, took place in the west part of Salisbury.

3 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 296; Potter's Manchester, 293.
* N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VI, 315-16.

226 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

cattle ; for they have got but very little hay since the mischief was
done, and have a great deal to get.; all their pease almost in the
held unhooked and loosing every day, and abundance of them there
is. . . . Mr. Lovejoy's garrison 1 are all moved off but three
family s, and he told me he would not stay any longer without he
had some souldiers — and if he had, severall familys would come to
them. If that fort breaks up, they can grind none in Contoocook,
& must be forced to go to Eastman's mill 2 on Turkey river (about
12 or 14 miles — a dangerous road), and it will be much more
dangerous to go to Pennicook. . . . Pray your advice by the
bearer ; but if I go there — i. e., to Stevenstown — pray your interest
for Contoocook, & Lovejoy's mill & Eastman's mill, that there may
be an addition of souldiers, &c."

This report indicates the perilous circumstances of Rumford, as
well as of its vicinity, in the late summer and early autumn of 1754.
Whether or not Captain Goff e's prayer as to protecting the mills in
Rumford was directly answered, there was wisdom in it, which was
recognized by the authorities ; for Captain John Chandler was as-
signed the command of a company of nine men, 3 who were on duty,
from the 8th to the 17th of September, "scouting and guarding,"
for the general protection of the township, as well as for the special
safety of "people of New Hopkinton, while cutting their hay."
Rumford was always in danger when Indians were around. By this
time, however, the tiers of settled townships to the northward shel-
tered it from the brunt of savage attack. In fact, the valley of the
Merrimack, unlike that of the Connecticut, was nearly free from In-
dian incursion throughout the ensuing war ; but garrisons were main-
tained, and other defensive measures were continued, so that appre-
hended evil was doubtless averted by precaution.

The English government had been urging the American colonies
to put themselves in a posture of efficient resistance to Erench
" encroachments on the frontier from the Ohio to the Gulf of St.
Lawrence " ; and, in 1755, sent over two regiments of regulars, with
General Edward Braddock as commander-in-chief of his majesty's
forces in North America. A Erench fleet was not slow to follow,
bringing reinforcements for Canada under command of Baron Dies-
kau. To this fleet Admiral Boscawen, with English ships, gave
close pursuit, though peace still " existed between England and
France under ratified treaties," and " England had avowed only the

1 Situated in West Concord, and mentioned in the previous chapter.

2 At Millville, being probably the one erected by Barachias Farnum and Henry Lovejoy,
as described in a previous chapter. It seems to have come, subsequently, into the hands
of Jonathan Eastman, who had a garrison in the vicinity, on the Hopkinton road.

3 Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II, 1866, p. 156; see Roll of Scout, 1754, in note at close
of chapter.

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 227

intention to resist encroachments on her territory." Expeditions
were at once planned against Du Quesne, at the fork of the Ohio ;
Niagara, on the river and near the falls of that name ; and Crown
Point, on Lake Champlain — three important strategic points in the
French cordon of military posts from Canada to Louisiana.

The first expedition for the reduction of Crown Point was placed
under the command of Sir William Johnson, a resident in the valley
of the Mohawk, and of great influence with the Six Nations of In-
dians. To it New Hampshire contributed, in 1755, a regiment of five
hundred men, commanded by Colonel Joseph Blanchard of Dunstable. 1
Rumford had eighteen men of the sixty-five upon the roll of the fifth
company in this regiment. Among these were the captain, Joseph
Eastman, and his brother Moses, a sergeant, — both sons of Ebenezer
Eastman so prominent in the earlier history of Penacook ; also, the
lieutenant, Nathaniel Abbot, and private Ebenezer Virgin, who were
of the original settlers and proprietors. 2

Captain Joseph Eastman's company of Blanchard's regiment was
in Johnson's camp during the battle of Lake George 3 and the men of
Rumford had a share in the fighting. It is said, too, that Nathaniel
Eastman, another son of Captain Ebenezer, was in Colonel Williams's
detachment which fell into ambuscade there. Though wounded in
the knee, Eastman continued to fire at the enemy till he was left
almost alone 4 in the retreat, and then he limped through the woods
to join his company. After the battle the entire regiment had sta-
tion at Lake George, and its men were acceptably engaged in scout-
ing and ranging service until their discharge in ( )ctober.

For the second Crown Point expedition (1756), a regiment of six
hundred men was raised in New Hampshire, and put under the com-
mand Colonel Meserve of Portsmouth. In Captain John Goffe's com-
pany of this regiment were enrolled eight men of Rumford, 5 including
Thomas Merrill, second lieutenant. But this number did not em-
brace all the Rumford men engaged in the campaign of 1756 and the
operations of the following winter. Others were enrolled under an
independent organization, which had been determined upon by the
authorities, the preceding winter. The satisfactory ranging and
scouting service performed by the men of New Hampshire in the last
year's campaign had proved the desirability of a permanent corps of
Rangers. These were to be men who thoroughly knew Indian char-
acter and practices in war. They were to be " rugged foresters,

1 Nashua.

2 See full list of Concord men in the company, in note at close of chapter.

3 See note at close of chapter.
* Bouton's Concord, 195.

p See list in note at close of chapter.

228 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

every man of whom, as a hunter, could hit the size of a dollar at a
hundred yards' distance ; could follow the trail of man or beast ; en-
dure the fatigues of long marches, the pangs of hunger, and the cold
of winter nights, often passed without fire, shelter, or covering other
than their common clothing, a blanket, perhaps a bearskin, and the
boughs of the pine or kemlock." ] They were to range woods dan-
gerous with hidden foes ; to serve as guides and couriers ; to pro-
cure, at deadly risk, intelligence of the enemy's movements ; to re-
connoiter at short distance ; to skirmish with detached parties ; to
fall with sudden force upon exposed points, and as suddenly find
security in inaccessible retreats ; to venture, in fine, upon any peril-
ous enterprise, in which muscle, nerve, sharp wits, and a dauntless
heart were requisite.

Such were the Rangers of the French and Indian War. Captain
Robert Rogers was commissioned to raise the first independent com-
pany of the famous corps. He recruited it in the early spring of
1756, mainly from his old company in Blanchard's regiment, and
taking John Stark as lieutenant. Soon, a second company was
raised, with Richard Rogers — Robert's brother — as captain, and
Nathaniel Abbot of Rumford as second lieutenant. Later that year,
two companies from Nova Scotia swelled the corps to three hundred
men. In course of time the corps was augmented by five other com-
panies, — one from New Jersey, and four from New England ; 2 the
whole force being under the command of Robert Rogers, who held
commission as major, while the brothers, John and William Stark,
became captains. This branch of service had separate enrolment,
only fragments of which have remained, 2 so that the names of but
few from Rumford, or elsewhere, who were engaged in it, are known.

The rangers were kept busy reconnoitering, and in ascertaining
what the enemy was about ; and after the regular provincial troops
had been sent home they occupied Forts Edward and William
Henry. A detachment of these, numbering seventy-four, marched
in January, 1757, from the latter fort to intercept French supplies
passing between Crown Point and Ticonderoga. They passed down
Lake George, partly on the ice and partly along shore, on snow-
shoes, and succeeded in rounding Ticonderoga without being seen
by the enemy. Approaching Lake Champlain, on a line half way
between the fortresses, they captured some of the provision sleds
passing from Ticonderoga to Crown Point, and destroyed their
lading. Other sleds, however, escaping back to the former post,
the rangers, knowing that the garrison would be notified of their
presence, commenced their homeward retreat. But at two o'clock

1 Memoir of John Stark, 16.

2 Adjutant-General's Report, Vol, 2 (1866),

THE LAST FKENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 229

in the afternoon of that day — the 21st of January — they were sud-
denly fired upon at close range by a body of French and Indians,
two hundred and fifty in number. The bloody encounter which
ensued lasted till dark, Captain Rogers, the leader, being disabled
by two wounds, and Captain Spikeman, of one of the Nova Scotia
companies, killed. Lieutenant John Stark, as senior officer, had com-
mand. The rangers, while having five or six killed and as many
wounded, slew, by their effective gunnery, one hundred and sixteen
of the enemy. Retreating with their wounded during the night,
they reached, on the morning of the 22d, Lake George at a point
six miles south of the French advanced guard. They were now
forty miles from Fort William Henry ; and since the wounded men
were exhausted and could march no further, Lieutenant Stark, with
two others, volunteered to go to the fort and procure sleighs.
Though the journey had to be performed on snowshoes, with the
snow four feet upon a level, the destination was reached that night ;
and the next morning the sleighs arrived to take up the wounded,
while the party of effective men marched on, and all at evening
arrived at William Henry. 1

Stilson Eastman of Rumford — a grandson of Captain Ebenezer
Eastman — was in the fight. John Shute and Joseph Eastman, both
of Rumford — the former a son of Jacob Shute, an early settler, the
latter a nephew of Captain Ebenezer Eastman — and who were mess-
mates in the ranger service through the war, 2 were also in this en-
gagement. Shute used to say that the first notice the party had of
the enemy was the noise made in cocking their guns, which he sup-
posed was occasioned by some rangers preparing to fire at game.
He was struck senseless by a bullet " which ploughed the top of his
head." On coining to himself he saw a man cutting off the ribbon
of Rogers's queue, to bind up the captain's wrist through which a
bullet had passed. 3

Mention should here be made of another participant in the action
of January 21st, 1757, who after the war became a resident of
Rumford. This was William Phillips, 4 a half-blood Indian of New
York, who enlisted in Rogers's first company of rangers, and soon
became a sergeant. He is specially noticed by Rogers, 5 as one of the
"reserves to protect the flanks and watch the enemy's motions."
His efficiency was recognized, for after that action he received a
lieutenant's commission, signed by the Earl of Loudon.

1 Major Rogers's Journal; Memoir of John Stark, 18-19.

2 Bouton's Concord, 196.

s Memoir of John Stark; Appendix, 412 (note).
4 See notes at close of chapter.
B Major Rogers's Journal.

230 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

One battalion of the regiment contributed by New Hampshire to
the campaign of 1757, went with its colonel, Nathaniel Meserve, on
Loudon's fruitless expedition to Louisburg ; the other, with Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Goffe, was stationed at Fort William Henry. Captain
Richard Rogers's company of rangers, of which Nathaniel Abbot of
Rumford was a lieutenant, also had rendezvous there. The battalion
and company were there when the gallant Munro, in command of
the fort with his inadequate force, held out in a siege of six days
urgently plied by Montcalm with overwhelming numbers, and then
submitted to inevitable capitulation. They were witnesses of the
infamous violation of the terms of surrender, when the savage allies
of the French fell upon the departing garrison, plundering, wound-
ing, murdering, or capturing for future torture and death.

On the 10th of March, 1758, Rogers was ordered to proceed to
the neighborhood of Ticonderoga, with a force numbering one hun-
dred and eighty, — officers and men. He set out " with no small
uneasiness of mind," J thinking the number should be four hundred.
After a toilsome march of three days, down Lake George — some-
times on skates, sometimes on snowshoes — the little band, having
on the thirteenth reached a point near the advance guard of Ticon-
deroga, was suddenly attacked by a largely outnumbering force of
French and Indians. A desperate fight ensued which lasted for an
hour and a half in a constant fire, " with the lines, in general, not
more than twenty yards asunder." 1 During the encounter the
rangers " lost eight officers and a hundred privates killed upon the
spot ; " 1 the enemy, one hundred and fifty killed and the same
number wounded — many mortally. Two days later hardly more
than fifty of the one hundred and eighty, unwisely sent out by the
English officer in command, upon so perilous an errand, returned to
Fort Edward.

In the heat of the combat Lieutenant Phillips, who, during the
march, had led an advanced guard, was sent with eighteen men to
head off a party of two hundred Indians, who were making for rising
ground, in order to fall upon the rear of the rangers. The detach-
ment gaining the summit, repulsed the enemy " by a well directed
fire in which every bullet killed its man." 1 But the brave lieutenant
finally found himself and his little party " surrounded by three hun-
dred Indians." 1 At this juncture the main body of the rangers,
" after doing all that brave men could do," 1 were beginning to seek
safety as best they could. Rogers, with twenty men, ran up the hill
towards the spot where Lieutenant Phillips stood enveloped in a
cloud of foes. As Rogers drew near, Phillips said to him that he

1 Major Rogers's Journal.

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 231

thought " it best to surrender, if the enemy would give good quarter ;
otherwise he would light while he had one man left to fire a gun." 1
But the lieutenant could not stand upon the terms of quarter ; com-
pletely overpowered by numbers, he and his surviving men having
been carried off as prisoners, were fastened to trees to be shot, or
hewn to pieces. Phillips, however, getting one hand free, took a
knife from his pocket, and opening it with the help of his teeth, cut
the strings that bound him, and made good his escape. 2

Upon the rolls of the New Hampshire regiment, raised in 1758,
and put in command of Colonel John Hart of Portsmouth, can be
clearly identified three Rumford names. 3 One battalion went with
the colonel to Louisburg, where were already the companies of rang-
ers. The other battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Goffe, joined
Abercombie's force, — operating against Crown Point and Ticonder-
oga, — with which was also a portion of the ranger corps in command
of Major Rogers. Thus Rumford had its men both in the army of
New York and in that before Louisburg.

A regiment of one thousand men contributed by New Hampshire
for 1759, and commanded by Colonel Zaccheus Lovewell of Dun-
stable, contained Rumford soldiers, though from the loss of rolls
their names are not known. The regiment at first joined the force
of General Amherst, but later was detached to serve under General
Johnson in the capture of Fort Niagara, which was accomplished
almost simultaneously with Amherst's occupation of the forts on Lake
Champlain, upon the withdrawal of the French forces during the last
days of September, 1759.

Three companies of rangers belonged to General Wolfe's com-
mand, one of which was commanded by William Stark. 4 In this com-
pany were, probably, Rumford men; "for soldiers from Rumford''
there certainly were in the expedition against Quebec, 5 which resulted
in the irrevocable passing of that stronghold from French to English
hands.

On the day of the decisive battle of Quebec (September 13, 1759)
General Amherst, at Crown Point, issued an order to Major Rogers
to march with a detachment of rangers to St. Francis village, at the
junction of the river of that name with the St. Lawrence. A flag of
truce recently sent thither by the English general had been violated,
and the perfidy deserved chastisement. Besides, the Indians dwelling-
there had been, for a hundred years, the terror of the New England
frontier, and vengeance seemed permissible. Rogers proceeded at
once upon the long, difficult, and dangerous march, mostly through

1 Major Rogers's Journal. 4 Potter's Manchester, 338.

2 Bouton's Concord, 200. 5 Bouton's Concord, 189.
8 See note at close of chapter.

232 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

an unbroken wilderness in the enemy's country, and, on the twenty-
third day out from Crown Point, came with his one hundred and
forty-two men, near the village of St. Francis. An evening recon-
naissance found the Indians celebrating a wedding with dancing and
general hilarity. It was determined to pounce upon the village, at
various points, early the next morning, while the inhabitants were in
deep sleep. At half an hour before sunrise of the appointed day
the attack was made. The assaulting parties rushed into the dwell-
ings, and, making but little use of the musket, slew the warriors,
young and old, with hatchet and knife. Almost all, in their heavy
sleep, were destroyed upon the spot ; the few, taking to canoes, were
pursued, and shot or drowned. In accordance with the order of
Amherst, " no women or children " were " killed or hurt " in this
attack. But when the morning light revealed six hundred scalps,
mostly English, dangling from poles over the wigwam doors, and the
rangers, infuriated at the ghastly spectacle, fired the hated village,
then many women and children, with, probably, some men in hiding,
must have perished 1 in the general conflagration. Twenty of the
former, however, were held awhile as prisoners, and then all but five
children released. "Take your revenge," Amherst had said; the
rangers had obeyed. By seven o'clock in the morning of October the
7th, the affair was over. 2 Two hundred Indian braves lay slain, and
the village of St. Francis was crumbling into ashes. The avenging
party had six wounded, and one, a Stockbridge Indian, killed.

Taking with them five rescued English prisoners, with some plunder
and provisions, saved from the ashes of the village, the rangers set out
upon their homeward return by the Connecticut river ; for to retrace
the route by which they had come was deemed impracticable from the
risk of meeting the French who were known to have been in pursuit.
They marched in a body, eight days toward the sources of the Con-
necticut, till reaching the shore of Lake Memphremagog, when their
provisions having given out, they were divided into companies, with
competent leaders, and with orders to proceed, as best they could,
to the mouth of the Ammonoosuc, where General Amherst had, at
Rogers's request, ordered supplies to be sent up from Number Four. 3
Rogers himself led one of the parties, and reached, with it, on the
loth of November, the Ammonoosuc rendezvous ; but, owing to the
stupidity of the purveyor, he found there no provisions. As his
wearied and famished party could go no farther without food, Rogers,
— himself weakened by hunger, — in company with Captain Ogden

« Potter's Manchester, 333.

2 Despatch of Rogers; see memoir of Robert Rogers in appendix to memoir of General
John Stark, 448.

3 Charlestown, N. H.

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 233

and a captive Indian boy, made a marvelous journey down the Con-
necticut, on improvised and shaky rafts, and obtained at Number
Four the indispensable supply.

Lieutenant Farrington of Andover, with Benjamin Bradley 1 of
Rumford, headed another return party. They were " two of the
stoutest men of their time." 2 In the attack on the village, they had
" pushed so violently against the door of the house where the dance
had taken place, that the hinges broke, and Bradley fell in head-fore-
most among the sleeping Indians." 3 But before the inmates could
arouse themselves to resistance, they were all despatched by the sturdy
rangers. But these were less fortunate in their homeward return.
Cold, hungry, exhausted, the party struck the Connecticut in the
Upper Coos, which was mistaken for the Lower. Here the party
divided, Bradley, starting with four or five others, and saying that
" if he was in his full strength, he would be at his father's house in
three days," set off upon a course which, from the supposed point,
" would have brought him to the Merrimack," 4 but from, the real start-
ing point must have led far to the northward of that destination.
Neither he nor any other one of the party ever reached home ; and
the only traces of Bradley ever seen were found by hunters in the
neighborhood of the White Hills — being bones, and long hair, " tied
with a ribbon such as he wore," and silver brooches and wampum
lying scattered about. 4 The fate of Stephen Hoit of Rumford, who
set out from Coos with Bradley, was indicated by clothing, and a
snuff-box, marked with his name, found on an island in Lake Win-
nepesaukee. 4

Lieutenant Phillips led a company directly to Crown Point, with-
out the loss of a man, but not without much suffering. On the way,
the men partly subsisted on the bark and buds of trees ; chewed the
straps of their knapsacks and powder-horns; and some — who were
esteemed fortunate — fed on lumps of tallow. They were finally re-
duced to such extremity of hunger that they determined to kill and
eat a captive boy brought from St. Francis. Fortunately, a muskrat
shot, cooked, and distributed among them, quieted their cannibal
frenzy. 4

General Amherst, at Crown Point, prepared for the campaign of
1760. He planned to concentrate three forces upon Montreal, by as
man3 r routes, and under the leadership, respectively, of himself, de-
scending the St. Lawrence by way of Oswego ; of Colonel Haviland,
going directly from Crown Point, by the Sorelle river ; and of Gen-
eral Murray, coining up from Quebec. Amherst accordingly set out

1 Grandson of Abraham Bradley, an early settler. 3 Ibid, 193-4.

2 Bouton's Concord, 193. * Ibid, 194.

234 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

upon his circuitous route. Some days later (August 15th), Colonel
Haviland started upon the direct advance into Canada. Of his force
was the regiment raised by New Hampshire for the year, and com-
manded by Colonel John Groffe. To it also belonged Major Rogers
and his six hundred rangers, who had, earlier in the year, been
engaged in precursory operations in Canada, and now formed the
vanguard. In the indispensable corps, Rumford still had honorable
representation. The campaign proved to be one of little fighting,
and that was mostly done by the rangers, who, in " a finishing skir-
mish, fired the last hostile guns in the conquest of Canada." 1 By the
8th of September, the three armies of Amherst, Haviland, and Mur-
ray were at Montreal, and on that day the city was surrendered, all
( Janada being included in the capitulation.

In the summer, before starting for Montreal, General Amherst,
wishing to send despatches to General Murray, at Quebec, five hun-
dred miles away through the wilderness, directed Major Rogers to
procure, upon a reward of fifty pounds, four volunteers for the diffi-
cult mission. The four were soon found ; being Sergeant Beverly,
a recently escaped prisoner of war, John Shute and Joseph Eastman,
the two Rumford messmate rangers, — " equally distinguished for
their enterprise, hardihood, and trustworthiness," 2 — and Luxford
Goodwin. Taking General Amherst's despatches, and letters from
other officers to friends in Quebec, the messengers proceeded under
a convoy to Missisqui bay, — an arm of Lake Champlain, — whence
they were to proceed on foot, partially, along the route by St.
Francis, which had been taken by the rangers, the year before. 3
After leaving the bay, their course lay for many days through
"marshy grounds where they could scarcely find a dry spot to
encamp upon at night till they struck the St. Francis river " just
above a rapid. Determining to cross as soon as possible, they con-
structed two rafts of driftwood, " in order that two of the party
might first cross, and, if they found no cause of alarm, might notify
the others to follow with the letters. By casting lots, it fell upon
Shute and Eastman to cross first; who immediately pushed off;"
but having only "poles with which to work the raft," and "the
current proving stronger than they expected," they were carried
down stream to the head of the falls, where they narrowly "saved
themselves by leaping upon a rock, against the point of which their
raft struck." Their guns, knapsacks, ammunition, and provisions
were also saved. Finding no enemy in the way, " they called to the

1 Memoirs of Robert Rogers in appendix to Memoir of General John Stark.

2 Bouton's Concord, 196.

3 The record of the difficult, perilous trip is the substance of an account given by Mr.
Shute in his old age, but " with memory and faculties unimpaired." See Bouton's Concord,
196-7 8; also Annals of Concord, 65 (note).

THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 235

others to come over,'' but to do so "higher up the stream." The
caution not being duly heeded, the second " raft was suffered to
enter the current, where it soon became unmanageable." The two
men upon it, " finding that they must go over the falls, threw down
their poles " in despair. " Shute and Eastman told them to throw
off their clothes and sit down." This they did, and the raft went
down the rapids, " nearly an eighth of a mile in extent." Their
companions, who, from a tree, had anxiously watched them, as they
alternately appeared and disappeared in their descent, " ran to the
foot of the fall," where Beverly was found " climbing up the bank,"
and " Goodwin, clinging to a press of driftwood," was extricated.
The two men had escaped alive, but " had lost their arms, clothing,
and provisions, together with all the letters." Shute and Eastman
could and did divide clothing and some other supplies with their less
fortunate comrades. But the letters were lost — and, without them,
should they go forward, or go back ? If they went forward, and fell
" into the enemy's hands without their papers, they would be in
danger of being hanged as spies ; if they went back, Rogers would
call them cowards and traitors, who had made up a false and improb-
able account to excuse their imbecility." Considering the alterna-
tives, they concluded to go forward, preferring " to take their chance
of the cruelty of the enemy " to meeting " the reproaches of Rogers."

They pursued their journey for weary days through trackless
woods and tangled swamps, where only enemies dwelt ; venturing to
approach the habitations of men only when impelled by hunger-
though while satisfying this, they would, now and then, make booty
of a silk dress, or something else that pleased their fancy. The
Sunday bell of a Catholic chapel calling the inhabitants to worship
was to the famished rangers an invitation to supply their wants
from houses temporarily vacated by the worshipers. A calf, taken
at night from the premises of the sleeping owner, on one occasion,
gave the messengers each a quarter of veal ; a part of which, when
cooked in the woods, four miles away, afforded a refreshing meal ;
and the remainder, dried in smoke, became a store for future use, as
they trudged on in moccasins made of the skin.

At last they were nearing their tedious journey's end. Ascend-
ing a high hill, " they saw for the first time the river St. Lawrence,
and a large encampment of regular troops upon the bank, about
twenty miles above Quebec." The wary rangers could not deter-
mine whether the troops were French or English, but Sergeant
Beverly ventured to go and ascertain. The kind greeting accorded
him was witnessed by his companions from afar, and soon all were
in the camp of their English friends. They were taken by boat to

236 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

General Murray's headquarters in Quebec, where they arrived at
midnight, and slept on the floor of the general's kitchen till morning.
Then, " conducted into a large hall, lined with mirrors, and in which
were about one hundred officers, each received a glass of liquor such
as he had never tasted before," and of which Mr. Shute said sixty
years later, " I have never drunk anything so good in my life."
They were separately examined, and, " as they had previously
agreed upon a statement of facts, coincided very well." At the
request of General Murray, they remained with him till his advance
upon Montreal ; and having gone along with his army thither they
rejoined their corps and witnessed the surrender of the city.

The conquest of Canada, which, in 1760, ended the French and
Indian War in America, gave the New England frontiers immediate
security from northern incursion ; though definite peace between
France and England came not until 1763, when the " Seven Years'
War," in Europe, closed in the Treaty of Paris. The dwellers in
Rumford shared the general security ; and so far were free to pur-
sue the ways that tend to the prosperity and happiness of a com-
munity. But they were still embarrassed by the persistent claims of
the Bow intrusion and their long deprivation of town privileges.
As mentioned in the preceding chapter, the latter fact involved them
in a contest with the provincial government in the matter of taxes.
These, as long as the people were denied the corporate privilege of
a town, could not be collected, and hence were left as troublesome
arrears. In vain, for fifteen years, had the people of Rumford, in
repeated petition, prayed the legislative authorities to relieve them,
by an act of incorporation, of this inability not only to meet pro-
vincial requisitions, but also their own municipal charges requiring
corporate action. The influence of the Bow intruders hindered
compliance with the just and reasonable request. On the 12th of
April, 1764, — two years after the royal decision of the second test
case in the Bow controversy, — the inhabitants of Rumford, by their
minister, presented another petition. In this Mr. Walker set forth :
" That the affairs of the said inhabitants — so far as relates to town
matters — have been in great confusion ever since the year 1749, for
want of the power which they had till then enjo} T ed since the year
1741, by the District Act; that although it has been pretended that
they might still have enjoyed the same privileges, — as inhabitants of
Bow, — yet they never understood matters in that light. And for
this their opinion and practice consequential thereupon, they humbly
conceived they could give reasons which would be satisfactory to
this court, were they permitted; that by 1760, they were so heartily
tired of such an unsettled state, that they would have been glad to

CONCORD A PAEISH OF BOW. 237

act even under the incorporation of Bow, if they could — although
highly inconvenient for them, as it blended part of three towns,
whose interests had always been separate, and would consequently be
apt to create strife and contention ; that the said inhabitants con-
ceive themselves greatly aggrieved by a late act of this government,
imposing a heavy tax on the inhabitants of Bow, as arrears, et cetera,—
a tax which nobody had power to assess and collect at the time when
the said arrearages became due, and which, if now done, must be
laid in many instances on wrong persons ; that what they had
suffered for want of the powers they had enjoyed by the first men-
tioned District Act, was unspeakably more to their damage than to
have paid their proportion of the Province expense ; that the inca-
pacity, complained of all along, still continues, and yet the people
are subjected to pay their part of the current charge, but nobody has
the power to assess or collect it. — They, therefore, most humbly pray
that your Excellency and Honors will take the matters complained
of under consideration, and either revive the said District Act, so
far as relates to Rumford, or — which would be much more satis-
factory to the said inhabitants — incorporate them by a standing act,
and by their former known boundaries, that the said inhabitants, may
be abated at least one half part of said arrearages ; and that with
respect to their part of the current charge of the Province, 1 they
may be subjected to pay no more than their just proportion with the
other towns in this Province."

A month later, the house of representatives, still insisting upon
the policy of compelling the people of Rumford to merge their cor-
porate identity, received from Massachusetts in that of Bow, ungra-
ciously replied to Mr. Walker's petition, in terms substantially these :
That the inhabitants of Bow, except those polled off to Pembroke
and New Hopkinton, must pay the taxes, including all arrears,
according to the act of 1763 ; that they must meet in town-meeting
in Bow, " some time in June next, to choose all necessary officers for
assessing and collecting the annual Province tax, and to transact all
other town affairs ; and afterwards " to meet " some time in the
month of March annually until further orders of the General Assem-
bly ; " and that, upon these conditions, the petitioner " have liberty
to bring in a bill." 2 Such conditions the people of Rumford could
not accept without giving up their long-urged cause, and this they
were far from being ready to do. Moreover, the tendency of events
was towards the vindication of that cause. Recent settlers in the
part of Bow outside the old limits of Rumford, to the southward,
were complaining of the exaction of tax arrears and praying for

1 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 33-4. 2 Ibid, 35.

238 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

relief therefrom, while it was becoming more and move apparent
that the settlement of unoccupied lands would be seriously impeded
if the onerous requisition were enforced. Then, too, the persistent
unanimity of Rumford, — with its "upwards of a hundred families "
occupying by a tenure of possession not likely to be broken, — in
insisting upon separate incorporation, and upon its lack of power,
without such organization, to levy and collect taxes, was proving
more than a match for the obstinacy of the Bow proprietors who
had hitherto prevented legislative compliance with a reasonable
request. But, in fine, whatever may have been the reasons, the
province authorities, in the course of the year, came to the conclu-
sion to remit tax arrears down to 1763, and to let Rumford have
town privileges; not expressly, however, as a town, but as a parish
of Bow. For, on the 7th of June, 1765, was enacted by the coun-
cil, and consented to by the governor, a bill, passed by the house,
on the 25th of May, and entitled, "An act for setting off a part of
the Town of Bow, together with some lands adjoining thereto, with
the inhabitants thereon, and making them a Parish ; investing them
with such privileges and immunities as Towns in this Province have
and do enjoy." The motive for this enactment was stated, in a pre-
amble, to be, " That there are sundry arrearages of taxes now due
which the inhabitants aforesaid apprehend they cannot levy for want
of sufficient authority, and several of them" have prayed "they
might be erected into a Town or Parish, and enjoy the common
privileges of other towns in this Province." It was enacted that
" the inhabitants " with " the polls and estates, on the lands and
within the boundary, hereafter described be set off and made a
Parish by the name of Concord, and invested and enfranchised with
all the powers, privileges, and authorities which any Town in this
Province doth by law enjoy, excepting, that, when any of the inhab-
itants of the aforesaid Parish shall have occasion to lay out any road
through any of the lands that are already laid out and divided by
the said Town of Bow, application shall be for the same to the
Court of General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the said Prov-
ince, as in other cases." The boundary of the Parish was described
as follows : " Beginning at the mouth of Contoocook river, so called,
which is the southeast corner of Boscawen ; from thence south,
seventy-three degrees west, by said Boscawen, four miles; from
thence running south seventeen degrees east, seven miles and one
hundred rods; from thence running north seventy-three degrees east,
about four miles, to Merrimack river; then crossing the said river,
and still continuing the same course to Soucook river; then begin-
ning again at the mouth of Contoocook river aforesaid, from thence

CONCORD A PARISH OF BOW. 239

running north seventy-three degrees east, six hundred and six rods
from the easterly bank of Merrimack river, or till it shall come to
the southwest line of Canterbury; from thence southeast on said
line, two miles and eighty rods; from thence south seventeen
degrees east, to Soucook river aforesaid ; from thence down the said
river till it comes to where the line from Merrimack river strikes
Soucook river."

Provision was made for holding the first meeting 2 " for the choice
of town officers, on the third Tuesday of August," 1765, and "the
annual meeting, for the future, on the first Tuesday of March." It
was also enacted that the selectmen of Concord, chosen at the first
town-meeting, and at subsequent annual meetings " until a new
proportion " of the province tax be made, should join with John
Noyes and Edward Russell, of Bow proper — or the part of Bow left
after setting off the new parish — in assessing upon the inhabitants
both of Concord and of Bow proper, the current province taxes, as
well as the arrears thereof for the years 1763 and 1764. 2

The act of incorporation obtained, at last, was " humiliating," 3
in one respect at least, "to the inhabitants of Kumford," who
would have preferred to be expressly " erected into a town," rather
than into a " parish of Bow " —a style of expression denoting how
hard it was for the provincial authorities to make the concession
so long withheld. But the people made the best of the disagree-
able style thus given, inasmuch as Concord was essentially and
practically a town, and order was to come again out of the munici-
pal chaos of the last fifteen years ; during which, as in all the for-
mer years of their settlement, they had manifested an " unanimity of
purpose and action " 4 fitly commemorated in their new corporate
name.

The new apportionment of the province tax, mentioned in the act
of incorporation, came nearly three years later. Until that time
Concord and Bow proper were rated together. But the arrangement
was unsatisfactory to both; and in August, 1767, the inhabitants of
Bow, by their selectmen, complained in petition to the general
assembly that they were " greatly abused " 5 by being so rated. In
September a new apportionment was ordered upon an inventory to
be taken ; and early the next year " a bill for a new proportion " was
passed and approved, in which Bow and Concord were rated apart,
and another disagreeable entanglement was forever relieved. 6

The boundaries assigned to the parish of Concord differed some-
what from those of Penacook and Kumford. The portion of the

1 See next chapter. * Ibid, 242.

2 Town Records, 105-6-7-8. b ibid, 245.

s Bouton's Concord, 243. » See note at close of chapter.

240 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

north line west of the Merrimack which was understood originally to
have begun at the middle of the " Contoocook's mouth," now begun
at the southerly side thereof, where the south line of Boscawen,
incorporated by New Hampshire in 1760, had origin. Originally,
too, the part of the north line east of the Merrimack ran easterly
three miles to the east boundary line — the junction of the two form-
ing the northeast angle of the old township ; now the north line ran
eastwardly only six hundred and six rods to what was called the
" south west line of Canterbury." Thence along this line one was
run southeast two miles and eighty rods, to meet the original east
line of Penacook, and the latter was thence pursued southerly to the
Soucook river, but did not cross it as it formerly did. From the
southern extremity of the west line, which was the original one, the
south line coining eastward on the old course crossed the Merrimack,
and stopped also at the Soucook without crossing it. Thus neither
of these lines completed its original seven miles ; while the Soucook
between their termini became a part of the boundary of Concord. 1

By this bounding the original northeast corner of Penacook and
Rumford — being a triangle of ten hundred and twenty-five acres,
more or less — was left to Canterbury. This piece of land had been
asked for by Canterbury in a petition presented to the general
assembly in 1760, to which remonstrance had been made by the
leading men of Rumford. 2 After Concord was incorporated the
gore was a bone of contention between its proprietors and those of
Canterbury, for sixteen years — or till 1781 — when a settlement was
effected ; the former quitclaiming one hundred and fifty acres, and
the latter eight hundred and seventy-five acres. 3 Finally, on the
2d of January, 1784, by the act of the state legislature, the gore was
severed from Canterbury and annexed to Concord. 4

To give a connected and satisfactory view of the boundaries of
Concord, it becomes necessary still further to anticipate dates. Be-
yond the easterly line of Concord there was left to Bow a triangular
piece of land enclosed by the Soucook river, the westerly line of
Canterbury — afterwards Loudon — and the original east line of Rum-
ford. This " Bow Gore " came to a point in the highland a little to
the east of Oak hill, and contained about thirteen hundred and
seventy-nine acres. 5 Southwestward of this was left out of Concord,
by stopping the original south and east lines at the Soucook, a gore
included by the prolongation of those lines and the part of the river
between their new termini. The former of these gores was, on De-
cember, 13, 1804, by legislative act, annexed to Concord, 6 and the

1 See Badger's map accompanying History. * N. H. Laws, 1780-1784, p. 501.

2 Bouton's Concord, 226-7-8. 5 Bouton's Concord, 242.

3 Proprietors' Records (manuscript), Vol. III. « Ibid; N. H. State Papers, Vol. XXVII, 151.

CONCORD A PARISH OF BOW. 241

latter to Pembroke. 1 At the same time still another gore, sometimes
called " Bow Gore " or " New Concord," lying southward of the
south line, and enclosed by it and the Merrimack and Soucook
rivers, was severed from Bow and united with Concord. The south
boundary line at the " Great Bend," or " Bow," of the Merrimack,
below the " Eleven Lots," crossing the river at two points, left on
the Bow side a tongue of land containing about forty acres, which,
in 1856, became a part of Concord. Thus, finally were settled the
bounds as they have remained to the present day.

The act incorporating Concord was declared to be " an act for
setting off a part of the town of Bow, together with some lands ad-
joining thereto, with the inhabitants thereon." These " adjoining "
lands comprised that fourth part of Rumford which was not covered
by the incubus of Bow lying obliquely over it. There were ten
families upon that fraction of territory when the act was passed ; a
fact showing that population had spread out to some distance from
the main settlements along the Merrimack. Pioneers had made their
homes on the outskirts of Rumford, especially towards the west and
north. Thus Ezekiel Dimond had built his log house close by Hop-
kinton, on the hill 2 which was to bear his name. There he dwelt
having Daniel and Jonathan Chase as neighbors, and sometimes be-
ing compelled by Indian alarms to seek refuge for himself and family
in Parson Walker's fort, where once his good wife finished the weav-
ing of her web, snatched from the loom at home, and borne away
with " yarn-beam," wound about with " reed and harness." 8 To
the northward, near " Broad Cove " of the Contoocook, was the
home of Enoch Webster. Down the river at the " Borough,"
Richard Elliot, returning from ranger service in the recent war,
had settled, and had erected his sawmill at the " Outlet." North-
eastward, near the mouth of the Contoocook, the brothers, Benjamin
and Nathaniel Rolfe, had their farm. The wild wood site of modern
Penacook was coming under white occupation, though the occupants
might hear at night the howling of wolves near by, and see the
" cattle, conscious of danger," huddled " in some corner of the field,"
with the older and stronger enclosing the younger and weaker in an
instinctive posture of defense. 4

While the unoccupied lands were turning into farms, the first
decided moving of that mercantile activity which was to distinguish
Concord was felt in the principal settlement. In 1761, Andrew Mc-
Millan, who had arrived in America at the beginning of the recent

1 Senate Proceedings, Pamph. Ed., 146; see also note at close of chapter.

2 Where is now (1900) the farm of Isaac N. Abbott,
3 Bouton's Concord, 642.

4 Ibid, 236.

l 7

242 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

war, in which he had served, came to Concord, and commenced trade
in a one-story shop standing at the northwest angle of the modern
Main and Pleasant streets. This enterprising merchant and influen-
tial citizen carried a miscellaneous stock of dry goods and groceries,
including, after the custom of the time, a supply of liquors and wines.
His ledger showed sales of tea and coffee ; of sugar, pepper, and
raisins ; of buckram, cambric, and gauze ; of broadcloth and blue
" camblet "; of hat-crape, men's gloves and women's ditto, white and
black; of buttons and silk thread; of chalk and powder, mugs and
punch-bowls ; of combs, pipes, and post-paper ; of snakeroot and
clove-water ; of rum (West India and New England), brandy, and
wine, by the quart or gallon — sometimes, the glass — to say nothing
of the occasional " bowl of toddy." 1 These items indicate the de-
mands of the community, and the mention of them is suggestive of the
wants and habits of the people. Colonel McMillan's business part-
ner for one year — the year when Rumford became Concord — was
Timothy Walker, Jr., the minister's only son, who subsequently
opened a store of his own at the North End, near his father's resi-
dence, and there continued in trade "until the beginning of the
Revolution." 2

There exists no record of the public school in Rumford during the
troublous years of war and litigation, and of confusion resulting from
deprivation of town privileges ; but it is safe to infer that school
instruction found some support from voluntary contribution, in the
absence of power to make a school tax. Certainly, home instruction
was not entirely lacking, and boys and girls, with no more than six
weeks' schooling in their lives, became, through the efforts of intelli-
gent parents, fairly adept in reading, arithmetic, and penmanship.
Such training, some, at least, of the ten children of Ezekiel and Miriam
Dimond received — and not infrequently under difficult conditions ;
as, when, on winter evenings, they lay down before the great kitchen
fire, and in the light of blazing pitch-pine knots practised their writ-
ing lessons upon birch bark.

Inasmuch, too, as the minister's salary could not be met by taxa-
tion, that charge had to be defrayed, for sixteen years, from the vol-
untary offerings of the people, who, even amid Indian alarms and
land litigations, would not forsake the public worship of Cod. And
when, in 1751, the ancient log meeting-house by West's brook be-
came too small to accommodate the worshipers, and was falling into
decay, a way was found to secure a new one, notwithstanding the
disability to act in the capacity of a town. Individuals, called " The
Proprietors of the Meeting-House," purchased the acre and a half lot,

i Bouton's Concord, 233-4-5, * Ibid, 579.

CONCORD A PAKISH OF BOW. 243

lying eastward of and near the buiying-ground, and numbering four
in the second range of house-lots, as " laid out to the original right
of Nathan Fisk, alias, Zachariah Chandler/' 1 On this was erected, in
that year, " the main body " of a house, which in time was to under-
go much change. This structure was framed " of the best white
oak," and " was sixty feet long, forty-six wide, and two stories
high." 2 It was three days in "raising," commencing on the 12th of
June. A " large gathering of people " was in attendance, and the
women of the parish cooked and provided food " on the spot." The
new house of worship, when made reasonably available for use, —
though it was to remain unfinished for years, — had neither porch nor
gallery, belfry nor spire. Its one door opened from the south upon
an aisle that led to the pulpit on the north side. Along the aisle, and
flanking the pulpit, "were coarse benches," on which sat the wor-
shipers, — men and women apart ; the former, on the west side, the
latter, on the east. The pulpit had near it the minister's pew, — the
only pew, — and before it the " deacon's seat," on which those digni-
taries sat confronting the congregation. Such was the Old North
church when it was new, — an unadorned temple, but endowed with
an untold wealth of social, moral, and religious blessings for a whole
community dwelling upon an area of more than forty square miles.

Notes.

Captain Chandler s Scout, 1754- The following are the names of
the men in command of Captain John Chandler : Obadiah Maxwell,
Phineas Virgin, Moses Eastman, Edward Abbot, Jr., Jacob Potter,
David Kimball, John Hoyt, Jonathan Fifield, Thomas Merrill.

List of Rumford Men in Fifth Company of Colonel Blanehard"s
Regiment, 1755. Besides the names of the officers and men of the
company given in the text, the following complete the list: David
Copps (sergeant), Nathaniel Morse (clerk), David Evans (corporal),
Obadiah Maxwell, Nathaniel Rix, Jonathan Chase, Ebenezer Copps,
Asa Kimball, Ebenezer Simonds, James Farnum, Reuben Simonds,
Judah Trumble, Isaac Walker, John Webster.

Rumford Men in Colonel Meserve's Regiment, 1750. Major John
Goffe of this regiment was also captain of its seventh company, in
which were the following persons enrolled from Rumford : Thomas
Merrill, 2d lieutenant ; Joseph Eastman, sergeant (perhaps, of Bos-
cawen) ; John Straw, Jonathan Fifield, James Blanchard, Paul
Fowler, Isaac Walker, 2d, Zebediah Farnum.

Rumford Men in Colonel Hart's Command and Elsewhere. The
three mentioned in the text as connected with Colonel Hart's regi-

i Bouton's Concord, 285, ' Ibid, 230.

244 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ment in 1758, were: Edward Abbot, Ebenezer Simonds, and Nathaniel
Eastman. It is also known that Daniel, Joshua, Samuel, and Jacob
Abbot, Benjamin Bradley, Amos and Stilson Eastman, Richard
Elliot, David Evans, Benjamin Hannaford, Stephen Hoyt, Philip
Shute, and " no doubt others," as says Dr. Bouton, " were, for some
time, engaged in the French and Indian wars, either in the regular
service, or as Rangers."

Boiv and Concord in 1768. Bow, at that time, counted 48 polls ;
Concord, 179. Bow had ,£1,500 of ratable estate, and its propor-
tion to £1,000 of the Province tax was £3 lis. Concord showed,
under the same heads, £6,500, and £15 10s. N. H. Prov. Papers,
Vol. VII, U3 and 166.

Bow Gore. This included the territory east of the Merrimack,
about Garvin's Falls.

Another Parcel of Bow Annexed. The parcel of Bow annexed to
Concord in 1856 was, at that time, owned by Albert Foster and
Leonard Bell. At an earlier date it belonged to Paul Rolfe, son of
Benjamin Rolfe, so prominent in the early history of Concord.

William Phillips. After the French and Indian War, Phillips
lived for some time in Rumford. Forming an acquaintance with
Miss Eleanor Eastman, daughter of Ebenezer Eastman, Jr., he
married her on a forged license. Tradition says that the marriage
took place in Lieut. John Chandler's tavern. Instead of a minister,
the marriage service was performed by a justice of the peace. They
had one son. About the year 1784, Phillips's wife left him and
joined the Shakers at Canterbury. Phillips afterwards led a roving,
unsettled life. He finally became a town charge. It was at length
discovered that he had once gained a settlement in Northfield, and
he was put upon that town, where he died about the year 1819,
supposed to be nearly one hundred years old. His wife died at the
Shaker settlement in Canterbury, November 17, 1816, aged seventy.
Bouton s Concord, 201.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Parish of Concord. — The Period of the American

Revolution.

1765-1784.

By the act incorporating Concord, Samuel Emerson, of Chester,
was appointed to call the first meeting of the parish for the choice of
town officers, to be held on the third Tuesday of August, 1705.
But some unexplained " accident intervening," the meeting was not
duly called, and, of course, was not held. The general court tried
again at the November session, and by special resolve, " directed
and authorized the said Emerson " to call the meeting within the
parish, "on the third Tuesday of January, 17(36." This time the
legislative order was complied with, and the first " legal meeting of
the freeholders and inhabitants of the Parish of Concord " was held
"on the twenty-first day of January, 1766," 1 with Lieutenant
Richard Haseltine, for moderator, and Peter Coffin, parish clerk.
Certain other town officers, deemed of immediate necessity, were
chosen ; such as, selectmen, tythingmen, surveyors of highways, a
constable, a sealer of leather, and a sealer of weights and measures. 1
This action served to lubricate the long disused wheels of town
government, which were to be put into complete running order at
the coming annual meeting in March, when the tenure of the officers
elected at this time would expire.

On Tuesday, the 4th of March, that first annual meeting of Con-
cord came, and Dr. Ezra Carter was chosen moderator, and Benjamin
Rolfe, Esq., parish clerk. The officers elected in January were,
with a few changes and additions, rechosen ; and the official list was
completed by the choice of fence-viewers, field-drivers, hog-reeves,
and surveyors of lumber. After the choice of officers, the first and
only important business transacted was a vote to raise one hundred
pounds, lawful money, "for paying the Reverend Mr. Walker's
salary" for one year, "from the 26th of May, 1765, together with
other necessary charges of the parish." 2

At a special meeting held on the 25th of March, the school was
the main subject of action ; and it was voted " that the school shall
be kept on the easterly side of the river, such part of the year as
their rates for the school shall come to of the polls and estates that

1 Town Records, 109. s Ibid, 110-11.

246 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

lie to the northward of Sugar Ball ; also, at a place that will best
accommodate those persons that live upon Contoocook road, north-
ward of Nathan Colby's, and those persons that live westward of
said road, such part of the year as their rates will pay ; also, at a
place that will best accommodate those persons that live upon Hop-
kinton road, westerly of Theodore Stevens, and westerly of Turkey
river, such a part of the year as their rates will pay ; and the
remainder of the year it shall be kept in the town street, about the
middle way from Captain Chandler's to Lot Colby's. 1 This arrange-
ment for " keeping the school in the several parts of the parish " was
continued for some years. 2 The "middle way" location of the
school " in the town street," or principal settlement, was on the west
side of Main street, between the points of junction therewith of the
modern Park and Centre streets; 3 Captain John Chandler's resi-
dence being near the Bradley premises, and on the southerly side of
the road running westerly by them ; 3 Lot Colby's, at the Eleven
Lots. 3 Provision was also made during this year and the next, for
letting the " interval lots," belonging to the school right, on the east
and west sides of Merrimack river.

The highways, also, received early attention ; for at the same
meeting at which the school was regulated, it was " voted that each
man " should, that year, " work rive days upon the highways," and
the " pound " — the latter to be placed by the selectmen, where they
should think best. One of the highway surveyors was Lieutenant
Ebenezer Virgin, an original proprietor, a pioneer settler in East
Concord, an enterprising man, and a valuable citizen. He died in
office, and on the 10th of November, at a special parish meeting,
Phinehas, the eldest of his seven children, was chosen to succeed
him. 4 Six years later, the specific sum of sixty pounds was raised
for making and repairing highways — being the first definite appropri-
ation for that purpose.

Among the matters requiring attention, under restored municipal
order, was the province tax, which seems to have been promptly
raised, though at first in entanglement with Bow. " For making the
rates," the selectmen were allowed special compensation, and Benja-
min Emery received " six pence on the pound for collecting the
tax." 5

It was at the annual meeting of the parish, in March, 1767, that
Dr. Ezra Carter, presiding as moderator, performed the last of the
many official duties entrusted to him by his fellow-citizens. His
death occurred on the 17th of the following September, when he was

1 Town Records, 112. * Town Records, 113.

*Ibid, 116. "Ibid, 116.

s See notes at close of chapter.

THE PARISH OF CONCORD. 247

only forty-eight years old. Since 1740, when, at the age of twenty-
one, he had come up from South Hampton, with his father, three
brothers, and a sister, to find a home in Rumford, he had successfully
practised his profession, the regular study of which he had pursued.
He had taken as a wife, while yet in her early teens, Ruth, the only
daughter of the late Captain Ebenezer Eastman, and thus had con-
nected himself with a family influential in the town. His own ability
and usefulness as a citizen had been duly appreciated and put in re-
quisition. As a magistrate, in the capacity of justice of the peace, lie
had striven to reconcile the differences of his neighbors, — often throw-
ing in his fees to accomplish the result, — so that he had come to be
called the "peacemaker." His genial wit and pleasant conversation
made him a social favorite ; while, as has been said of him, " when
called to visit the sick and desponding, he never failed to administer
with his remedies for the body a cordial to the mind." 1 " Benevolence
and mercy " eminently characterized his life.

The first physician of Concord soon had two successors : Ebenezer
Harnden Goss, who married Mary, a daughter of the Reverend Timo-
thy Walker, and subsequently served as a surgeon in the Revolution ;
and Phillip McCarrigain, or Carrigain, of Scotch descent, and of note
in general and surgical practice. Henceforth, the medical profession
was ever to be well represented in Concord. 2

It was also in the 3 r ear 1767 that Peter Green came hither from
Worcester, and, at the age of twenty-one, opened a law office ; being
the first representative of the legal profession to settle in Concord,
and the only one, until sixteen years later, when Edward St. Loe
Livermore became a resident practitioner in the parish. These two
head the long list of Concord members of the bar. 3

The same year the first census of the province was taken. The
return for Concord showed seven hundred and fifty-two inhabitants,
as follows : Sixty-two unmarried men, from sixteen to sixty ; one
hundred and twenty-five married men, between the same ages ; eigh-
teen men, of sixty and above ; one hundred and eighty-nine boys, of
sixteen and under ; two hundred and four unmarried females ; one
hundred and twenty-six married women ; fifteen widows ; thirteen
slaves — nine male, and four female.

The last item of enumeration is a reminder of the fact that slavery
existed in those days north of Mason and Dixon's line, and even in
New Hampshire. As it existed in this province, including Concord,
it was of mild form ; and the treatment of slaves was generally hu-

1 Annals of Concord, 35.

2 The special chapter on the Medical Profession will supply details as to these and other
members thereof, which, consequently, will be omitted from this general narrative.

s See special chapter on the Bench and Bar for detailed information as to these and sub-
sequent members of the legal profession in Concord.

248 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

mane, and "their labor not more severe than that of white people." 1
In Concord though the slaves were few, and the masters merciful,
yet strange to the philanthropic sense of to-day seem the deeds of
sale by which property in human chattels was then transferred. As
when in 17(31, " Hannah Bowers of Billerica, widow, . . . sold
unto Lot Colby of Rumford, ... a mulatto negro boy, named
Salem, and . . . received forty-five shillings sterling in full con-
sideration for the said boy." 2 Or, as again, when Benjamin Osgood
of Concord, in 17(37, gave the following deed : " Received of Andrew
McMillan, the sum of forty-seven pounds ten shillings lawful money,
in full consideration for my negro boy slave named Caesar, aged
about eleven years, which negro boy I have this day sold to said Mc-
Millan, and promise to warrant and defend the property of the said
negro boy to him the said McMillan, and his heirs or assigns forever,
against the claims of any other person or persons whatsoever." 3

In accordance, however, with the spirit and fashion of that time,
some of the worthiest men of the parish were masters of slaves.
Colonel Benjamin Rolfe left, at his decease, as part of his property, a
negro, appraised, in inventory, at fifty-five pounds lawful money. 4
Abraham Bradley paid thirty bushels of corn for Pompey, a slave,
who became " a favorite in the family." In his will, the kind master
gave his slave to his grandson John, with this order to his executor :
" To take especial care that my said negro be not wronged by my
aforesaid grandson in any way ; and if he should wrong him, I give
him power to do him justice." Pompey was also given " the use and
improvement of one half-acre of land, " on the family premises, " dur-
ing his natural life." 4 The Reverend Mr. Walker once had in his
service a good-natured, faithful man, Prince, " much attached to his
master," and also two women, Luce and Violet, as domestics. These
had their freedom " on the adoption of the State Constitution." 5 Lieu-
tenant Richard Herbert bought, in 1768, for five dollars, the little
girl Nancy, when about eighteen months old, and brought her up with
his family. She learned to read, and used to say in after years that
she " was treated just the same as the other children," but she sup-
posed " she did not expect so much "; and also that " she was never
conscious of a wish that she had been born white." 5 When she was
fifteen years of age, the constitution of New Hampshire was adopted,
with the declaration of its Bill of Rights, " All men are born equally
free and independent," under which it was generally held that slavery
in the state was abolished. The poor girl had dreaded the adoption of
the constitution that would make her free, fearing that she might be

1 Belknap, Vol. Ill, 281. * Bouton's Concord, 252.

1 Bouton's Concord, 250. ° Ibid, 253.

> Ibid, 249, 50.

THE PARISH OF CONCORD. 249

separated from her home and friends in Concord. When the fact
was announced to her that the dreaded event had transpired, and that
she was no longer a slave, she burst into tears, exclaiming, " What
will become of me ! " But her late master and other friends, to her
great joy " gathered round " to assure her that " she should remain
in her old and only home." And there Nancy, the freedwoman, did
remain, in the Herbert family, during the residue of a long life of
seventy-nine years. Immediate arrangement was made for her com-
pensation in future service ; and she was remembered in subsequent
bequests. " She became a member of the church, and honored her
profession. She was sensible and dignified in manners — faithful,
affectionate and cheerful. She read much — usually the Bible. In
her charities, she felt a particular interest in the Education Society,
in the cause of Missions, and in all efforts for the elevation of her
race." 1 This incident and others just cited tend to show what in-
voluntary servitude was in Concord, and attest that though it was
slavery, it was not oppression.

When the " Stamp Act " was passed, John Wentworth, a nephew
of Governor Benning Wentworth, was in England, and, as co-agent
of New Hampshire with Barlow Trecothick, successor of John Tliom-
linson, had presented the remonstrances of the province against the
measure. The uncle had been governor twenty-five years, and had
now reached the age of seventy. His administration had been, in
many respects, a successful one, though somewhat difficult, especially
from the two French and Indian wars. But certain charges made
against it, including the taking of " exorbitant fees for the passing of
patents of land," 1 had caused the English ministry to resolve upon a
supersedure. Largely, however, through the influence of his young
and popular nephew the veteran official was allowed to resign with-
out censure, and in favor of that nephew. 2 So John Wentworth
became governor of New Hampshire, and entered upon the duties of
his office on the 13th of June, 1767. His administration fell upon
troublous times; at its beginning the great Revolution was darkly
looming which was to burst in " hurricane " upon its end. 3

The change of governors was agreeable to the people of Concord, if
for no other reason than that Benning Wentworth was one of the
official " Proprietors of Bow " from whose contentions they had
suffered so much. He had, to be sure, as governor, twice attempted
to give them representation in the assembly; but that commendable
action was hardly sufficient to render a Bow proprietor persona <ir<tt<i

1 Bouton's Concord, 253-4.

2 Belknap, 335.

3 Ibid, 336.

« Governor Wentworth's letter to a friend in 1774; Belknap, 352 (note).

250 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

with them. The gratification felt at the accession of John Went-
worth seems not to have been disappointed ; for, six years later, in
an address to the governor penned by the young Benjamin Thomp-
son — afterwards Count Rumford — and adopted in town-meeting, the
popular appreciation found warm expression.

Tins testimonial, presented in the spring of 1773, denotes that till
then the administration of John Wentworth had well subserved the
interests of the people, and had, by its prudence, tended to hold
somewhat in abeyance that energy of revolutionary resistance which
was, erelong, to be manifested in New Hampshire, as elsewhere.

One generally beneficial measure, early adopted under this admin-
istration and going into effect, with the royal sanction, in 1771, was
the division of the province into five counties. Hitherto all courts
had been held at Portsmouth, to the great and growing inconvenience
of remote localities. Even now the relief afforded by this measure
to many other parts of the province was not felt by Concord, which
was assigned to Rockingham county with Portsmouth and Exeter,
as shire towns — the former fifty-five miles away and the latter forty.
Accordingly, in March, 1773, the inhabitants, in parish meeting,
appointed Andrew McMillan to petition the general court in their
behalf that Concord might be annexed to Hillsborough county, pro-
vided that a term of the inferior and the superior court, each, might
be annually held in the parish ; in other words, that Concord might
be a half-shire town with Amherst. A petition to that effect was
presented in January, 1774, and a hearing was ordered thereon in
March, but before the date of hearing the governor had dissolved the
assembly, and the petition came to naught. Revolutionary commo-
tion was stirring in earnest, and the assembly, by its unanimous
approbation of measures suggested by other colonies " for the security
of the whole against the designs of those who " were " for reducing
them to a state of slavery," 1 had alarmed the amiable governor, who
thought it best to try the virtue of abrupt dissolution. Indeed, it
was becoming daily more and more difficult for John Wentworth to
reconcile duty to his king, whose commission he held, with conces-
sion to the will of his people.

Under the new county law jurors from Concord were, for the first
time, impaneled in the courts, where, during the long years of the
Bow controversy, now ended, the inhabitants of Rumford had had
more than enough of burdensome experience as parties. In 1771 or
1772 Ebenezer Hall and Joshua Abbot served as jurors; and, on
August 24th of the latter year at a special town-meeting, " Mr. Lot
Colby," as says the record, " was drawn out of the box for a juror,"

i N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 358.

THE PARISH OF CONCORD. 251

with compensation fixed at " three shillings a clay." The same pay
was also voted to future jurors, as well as to the two who had served
before. 1

The desire of the people of Concord to procure amendments of
their charter in removing the restriction upon their power to lay out
roads, and in making " the boundaries of the parish as extensive as "
those of Rumford had been, was not gratified. In December, 1772,
they had desired Andrew McMillan to present to the " Honorable
General Court a petition for those purposes." But a request for
such reasonable legislation, which, in ordinary times might have
found compliance, could not find it in those days of revolutionary
ferment. For the last three provincial assemblies were preoccupied
with momentous questions concerning the defense of American liber-
ties, and were constantly interrupted, in consequence, by an anxious
governor's edicts of adjournment, prorogation, or dissolution.

Nor was Concord ever to be represented in a provincial assembly.
( hi the first day of March, 1771, " Peter Green, Esq.," was " appointed
agent to petition the Governor and Council for a Representative." 2
But nothing came of it. The governor summoned to the last pro-
vincial assembly under his administration — convoked for the fourth
of May, 1775 — members from several newly-settled places, hitherto
unrepresented, but he neglected older and more important ones, and
among these the parish of Concord. Doubtless he wanted, at that
crisis, as many men in the assembly as possible who would be more
subservient to his anti-revolutionary purposes than any representative
that patriotic Concord would be likely to elect.

While the parish was making the most of its municipal privileges
in promoting the varied interests of a well-regulated community, the
proprietary were contributing effective efforts to the same end. As
written in another connection, the proprietors of Rumford succeeded
during the years between 1762 and 1775 in adjusting difficulties
with their Bow antagonists. It is to be added, that, on several occa-
sions, lands were laid out to requite individuals for losses incurred in
the controversy ; but a general division of " the common lands " was
not made till near the close of the Revolution. Preliminary steps
thereto had been taken in 1771, but it was not until 1781 that the
purpose was accomplished. On the 5th of December of that year a
committee, consisting of Benjamin Emery, Timothy Walker, Jr., and
Robert Davis, reported that they had "laid out one hundred and
three lots." 3 The report having been accepted, " the proprietors
proceeded at once to draw and pitch their lots ; " 3 and the same com-
mittee received authority " to sell the remainder of the common

1 Town Records, 131. 2 Ibid, 137. s Proprietors' Records.

252 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

land." 1 So the proprietary lands of Concord had, at last, mostly
come into individual ownership. Meanwhile, too, as elsewhere men-
tioned, Massachusetts, in recognition of the trials of those who had
planted and held the perilous outpost of her territorial claim along
the upper Merrimack, had granted a new proprietorship of another
Rumford, on the banks of the Androscoggin in the woods of Maine,
by way of remuneration for " losses incurred in the controversy with
Bow."

The proprietors, on the 7th of May, 1771, chose John Kimball
clerk ; for Benjamin Rolfe, who had held the place forty years, was
nearing the end of life. Seven months later, on the 21st of Decem-
ber, he died in the sixty-second year of his age. His prominent effi-
ciency in the settlement, as a plantation, township, district, parish,
or non-corporate organization, has been noticed on foregoing pages.
The father, Henry Rolfe, having been a leading spirit in planting
Penacook and incorporating Rumford, had returned ere long to his
Massachusetts home, leaving the son, a young man of liberal educa-
tion and of good capacity for affairs, to identify himself with a people
whose interests he was so faithfully to serve. This son enjoyed from
the first the confidence of his fellow-citizens, and retained it to the
last. He held all the important offices, frequently two or more. at a
time. He longest filled the position of town clerk, in which he was,
upon declining further service, succeeded in 1769 by Timothy
Walker, Jr. Though not a lawyer, Benjamin Rolfe was a capable
legal adviser, and satisfactorily discharged the various duties of a
civil magistrate. He also had military experience, particularly in the
first French and Indian War, with the rank of colonel. By inheri-
tance, and by his own industry and prudent management, he ac-
quired a large property in lands, and, at his death, was accounted the
richest man in Concord. 2 Colonel Rolfe had remained single till his
sixtieth year, when he married Sarah Walker, the minister's eldest
daughter, thirty years younger than himself. 2 The son Paul, born of
the brief union, inherited his father's estates, inventoried at four
thousand and eighty-two pounds lawful money. 2 Before his mar-
riage Colonel Rolfe " lived in a one-story house " 8 at the Eleven Lots,
but after that event he built and occupied the larger and more com-
modious dwelling which still stands, as a venerable historic relic, and
as part of an asylum sacred to the noble charity of relieving orphan-
age in Concord.

Among those who were teaching school in the parish at that period,
such as Abial Chandler, the surveyor, Joseph Emery, Patrick Quin-
lon and Robert Hogg, 4 with sundry " school-mistresses " whose names

1 Proprietors' Records. s Ibid, 556.

2 Bouton's Concord, 555. 4 See Town Accounts in Bouton's Concord, 258.

THE PARISH OF CONCORD. 253

are not recorded, was Benjamin Thompson, of Woburn, already
spoken of as author of a congratulatory address to Governor Went-
worth. He came to Concord in 1772, upon invitation of Timothy
Walker, Jr. He was then a youth of nineteen, without the advantage
of liberal education, but of a scientific and philosophic turn, which
had been gratified, three years before, by a course of philosophical
lectures at Cambridge. Before this, he had been set to the study of
medicine, but only to his disgust ; he had then been put at employ-
ment in a store, and with much the same result, till, indeed, his
widowed mother and other friends became impressed with a belief
that he would never fix his mind upon any regular employment by
which he could gain a support. 1 But he tried his hand at in-
struction in Bradford, and with better inclination and success ;
and coming to Concord, he followed the same pursuit, to popular
acceptance.

In the handsome, genial, gifted schoolmaster there was promise of
greatness, and his generously endowed nature felt the pricking of
concomitant ambition. By his marriage, in his twenty-first year,
with the widow of Benjamin Rolfe, means became his with which the
better to gratify his liking for personal display and the attractions of
polite society. Accompanied by his wife, he journeyed to Portsmouth
in a curricle, the most expensive carriage of that day, and won, by
his fine manliness of presence and address, much attention in the
provincial capital. Governor Wentworth conceived high admiration
for the brilliant young man, and soon after commissioned him to be
major of the Eleventh regiment of militia. This mark of esteem and
confidence was gratifying to the recipient, who had military taste and
aptitude. But the appointment brought with it dislike from many
who took it as an act of gross favoritism and inexcusable supersedure.
Besides, as the favor was conferred by a royal governor, already fall-
ing into unpopularity for his support of the crown against the colo-
nies, the favorite major was eyed with not a little suspicion. The
Sons of Liberty 2 were on the alert. In their view he who was not for
the American cause was against it, and, of that cause, Major Thomp-
son had been heard to speak doubtfully. When, to the disgust and
indignation of the people of New Hampshire, their governor under-
took to render aid to General Gage, nominal governor of Massachu-
setts, it seems that Thompson, as Wentworth's petted friend, was
induced to lend a helping hand. That he did so is attested by the
governor himself, in the following words of a letter written to the Earl
of Dartmouth, on the 15th of November, 1774 : " I have been success-

1 Annals of Concord, 55.

3 An association of zealous friends of the American cause.

254 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ful in prevailing on soldiers deserted from the King's troops at Boston,
to return to their duty, through the spirited and prudent activity of
Major Thompson, a militia officer of New Hampshire, whose manage-
ment the General writes me, promises further success." 2 It is likely
that this spirited activity of the major upon the wrong side came to
the notice of his watchful neighbors, and intensified the popular en-
mity towards him. When, therefore, he ventured to entertain at his
house two British officers of Gage's army in Boston, visiting Con-
cord on furlough, patriotic feeling was so inflamed against him that,
to avoid threatened personal violence at the hands of some of the
more impulsive Sons of Liberty, he left his home, wife, and infant
daughter, never to return to them. He found in his native town of
Woburn, whither he had withdrawn, a similar intensity of feeling
against him, rendering his stay there unsafe. He strove in vain to
efface the mark of toryism which had been set upon him. At the
coming of the war, the revolutionary measures leading to which he
had not favored, the high-minded young man of twenty-two seems to
have been ready, in good faith, to cast in his lot with his country-
men and fight for American liberty. He offered his military ser-
vices, but suspicion prevented acceptance. Enemies, actuated partly
by patriotic motives, and partly by motives less praiseworthy, over-
bore all his efforts to right himself, till finally he felt obliged to seek
security within the British lines.

The promise of capacity for high achievement was not to be veri-
fied in his own land ; the field for the brilliant efforts of his versatile
genius in science, philosophy, military affairs, statesmanship, and
philanthropy, lay in lands beyond the sea. In England, France, and
Germany, the Concord schoolmaster and major of the New Hamp-
shire militia was, in forty years, to accomplish the great historic life-
work of Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. 2

The allusions to the militia just made suggest that in 1774 the
military organization of the province embraced twelve regiments
of infantry ; three new ones having been recently added to the nine
that had existed in the time of the Seven Years' War. Concord was
assigned to the Eleventh, and to this was ever afterwards to belong.
Andrew McMillan was the first colonel of the new regiment, with
Thomas Stickney as lieutenant-colonel, and Benjamin Thompson as
major. McMillan having removed to Conway, Stickney succeeded
him in the command of the regiment. Concord supplied two com-
panies, of which Joshua Abbot and Abial Chandler were captains ;
Jonathan Stickney and Ebenezer Virgin, lieutenants ; John Shute

1 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 418.

l See Countess Rumford in note at close of chapter.

EVEXTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 255

and Jonathan Eastman, ensigns. The names of the privates have
not been preserved, but the number on the alarm list was one hun-
dred and ninety. 1 Governor Wentworth, as captain-general, had
sought to improve the militia; but he was soon to see whatever
military spirit and discipline he had succeeded in diffusing turned
against the crown under which he held commission, and whose
interests he was diligent to serve.

Revolutionary events thickened. When on the 8th of June, 1774,
the governor dissolved the newly called assembly, because it had
appointed a committee of correspondence to effect united action with
the other colonies, he thought he had dissolved the committee. 2 But
he soon found his mistake when, on the 6th of July, a body of rep-
resentatives, summoned by that committee, convened in the legisla-
tive chamber. Hastening thither with the sheriff of Rockingham
county, the representative of the king pronounced this meeting of
the people's representatives illegal, and ordered them to disperse.
They did not disperse, but taking time to deliberate, simply ad-
journed in due order to meet at another place. There they decided
to request by letter all the towns and parishes of the province to
send deputies to a convention to be held at Exeter, on the 21st of
July instant, for the choice of delegates to a general congress ap-
pointed to meet at Philadelphia early in September. 3 The request
was answered by the appearance of eighty-five delegates in the first
provincial convention at the time and place designated. 4 The names
of the deputies are lost ; but it is probable that Timothy Walker,
Jr., son of the minister of Concord, was in attendance. 5 Major John
Sullivan and Colonel Nathaniel Folsom were appointed to attend
the first continental congress, and the sufferings of the people of
Boston under the revengeful port bill were commended to the be-
nevolent consideration of the people of the province.

The die of war was cast at Lexington. All have heard the oft-
repeated story, how from the hills and valleys of New Hampshire
straightway rushed hundreds of heroes to the scene of encounter.
Nor were the men of Concord laggards then. Thirty-six volunteers,
with Captain Abial Chandler at their head, were soon away for Cam-
bridge, where they tarried a fortnight. ( )thers of their townsmen
closely followed. Unfortunately the names of the men of Concord
who were thus of the first to fly to arms in the American Revolu-
tion are not upon record. Their services, however, were recognized
the following December in the vote " That Captain Abial Chandler
and those men who went under him to Cambridge, upon the alarm

1 Bouton's Concord, 258, and note. *Ibid, 407.

2 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 399-400. 6 See Town Accounts in Bouton's Concord, 259.

s Ibid, 400*401.

256 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

in April last, be paid by the parish at the same rates that other
troops in this colony are paid.''' 1

While the men of New Hampshire, " tired with zeal in the common
cause, were thus rushing to the assistance " of their Massachusetts
brethren, " a special convention of delegates " was hastily called
from accessible towns to consider the measures " expedient to be
taken at " the " alarming crisis." 2 This third convention met at
Exeter on the 21st of April — only two days after the Lexington
affair — with sixty-eight delegates from the nearest towns in attend-
ance ; but by the twenty-fifth the number being swelled by accessions
from remoter places reached one hundred and nine. Reverend Timo-
thy Walker appeared as the delegate from Concord. The convention
at once met one emergency by a vote requesting " Colonel Nathaniel
Folsom immediately to take the chief command of the troops who
have gone or may go from this government to assist our suffering
brethren in the Massachusetts Bay." 3 Most of the measures con-
sidered were, however, left for final decision to another " convention
of deputies," already called by the provincial committee to be held
on the 17th of May. 4 In compliance with this call the "freeholders
and inhabitants of Concord " chose Timothy Walker, Jr., as a deputy
to the proposed convention, " for the term of six months from the
said 17th day of May current." 5

Before this fourth convention met the last provincial assembly of
New Hampshire convened at Portsmouth on the 4th of May. It
contained thirty-seven members £rom as many towns. Concord and
some other of the older and more populous places had not been
invited by the governor to send representatives, but three of the
newer and smaller ones — Lyme, Orford, and Plymouth — were
favored with his writs of election, and sent members. The gov-
ernor's address was conciliatory, but fell upon unwilling ears. Peti-
tions complaining of the election of members from three towns
hitherto unrepresented were read and referred to a committee of
ominously patriotic make-up. Besides, a committee was forthwith
appointed to request an adjournment to some time early in June
next, in order that the members might have an opportunity of fully
consulting their constituents respecting the several weighty matters
necessary to be considered at the present session. The great motive
of the assembly in seeking an adjournment was to await the action
and advice of the coming provincial congress ; while, besides, there
were some persons that had been elected to serve in both bodies.
Annoying, humiliating even, though it was to the governor, that the

1 Town Records, 148. * Ibid, 461.

2 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 461. 'Town Records, 146.

3 Ibid, 454.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION.

257

regular legislature should be put by to get its cue from what seemed
to him but a rebellious organization usurping legislative functions,
yet he deemed it best to comply with the request, and adjourned the
assembly to the 12th of June.

The fourth provincial convention assembled at Exeter on the
17th of May. Never before had any like assemblage in New Hamp-
shire contained so full and fair a representation of the people. One
hundred and thirty-three members, 1 from one hundred and two
towns and parishes, were in immediate attendance, though the roll
of membership finally showed one hundred and fifty-one names. 2
The convention proceeded promptly and boldly to its legislative
work. At once it was ordered that a force of two thousand men be
raised, including the volunteers already on duty in Massachusetts. 3
The latter were largely comprised in a regiment already under com-
mand of Colonel John Stark, who, on the 26th of April, had received
commission from the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, to hold
" till New Hampshire should act." < )f the force now raised a
brigade of three regiments was constituted, with John Stark in com-
mand of the First, Enoch Poor of the Second, and James Reid of
the Third.

A committee of safety was chosen, and endowed with authority
to act as an executive body "in the recess of the Congress." 4
A committee of supplies was also raised, upon which much responsi-
bility rested in procuring military stores and provisions, and in bor-
rowing money on the faith of the colony for that purpose. 5 Of this
committee, Timothy Walker, Jr., of Concord, was a member.

A British army was occupying Boston ; and New England troops
had been centering about the distressed town ever since the affair of
Lexington. The first and second regiments of New Hampshire, in
command of Stark and Reid, having been put in order by the
colonial congress, stood ready, at Medford, for any call to duty.
In Stark's regiment were companies from Concord and the vicinity,
commanded by Captains Joshua Abbot and Gordon Hutchins : the
first having, as one of its lieutenants, Abiel Chandler; the second,
Daniel Livermore. Captain Aaron Kinsman, then resident in Bow,
had a company, with Lieutenant Ebenezer Eastman and a few men
from Concord. The Concord officers and men in these three com-
mands numbered between thirty and forty. 6 Captain Joshua Abbot
was of good fighting stock, being the son of Nathaniel, a proprietor
of Penaeook, and a lieutenant of rangers in the French and Indian
War. Captain Hutchins had been a resident of Concord for three

» N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 468-70,
" Ibid, 665-9.
s Ibid, 477.
IS

* Ibid, 478, 485.
c Ibid, 478, 487.
"See listfs in notes at close of chapter.

258 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

years at the commencement of Revolutionary hostilities. In his
store, on the west side of Main street, a few rods south of its junc-
tion with the Hopkinton road, or Pleasant street, he had heard of
" Lexington." Forthwith he hastened to Exeter, and returned with
commission to raise and organize a company for six months. This
he did ; encouraging enlistments by furnishing " on credit " supplies
from his store to families of his hastily enlisted men, and, in conse-
quence, suffering considerable pecuniary loss. 1

When it was known to the investing camp that the English in
Boston contemplated occupying Bunker Hill, an advantageous posi-
tion in Charlestown, the Americans determined to anticipate the
enemy's movement by seizing that height for themselves. Suddenly,
in the early morning light of June the 17th, stood revealed on
that coveted hilltop, an American redoubt, — the work of one short
summer night, — a surprise and a defiance to waking foes below,
across the Charles. Early, two hundred men of the New Hampshire
regiments were ordered to the hill ; later, the main body marched to
join them there, and took position in the left wing of the southerly-
facing line of defense, along the slope between the redoubt and the
Mystic. There they stood behind their breastwork, partly of
doubled rail fence filled in with hay mown yesterday ; partly of
simple stone wall, thrown up by themselves down by the river.
Behind this bare wall, on the extreme left, were posted Captain
Joshua Abbot, with his Concord company, and Captain John Moor,
with the men of Amoskeag.

When, in the blazing heat of mid-afternoon, the enemy advanced,
with the fine regiment of Royal Fusiliers upon their right, they were
met by so well aimed and deadly a fire from the American line —
especially from the rudely sheltered left — that, with thinned and
disordered ranks, they beat a precipitate retreat. Rallied and rein-
forced, they returned to the attack, but only to be hurled back
again in death and rout — leaving ghastly windrows of dead and
wounded before the rail fence and stone wall. Now the shattered
foe, having been rallied and reinforced anew, came up the hill, for
the third time, in attempt to turn the left and right of the American
line, by simultaneous assault. To turn the left was impossible ; the
assault being fearfully and effectually repelled by Stark's dread
marksmen of the Merrimack and their worthy comrades. But
American success on the left did not decide the day ; for the
redoubt could not be held, with failing ammunition, against the
enemy's overwhelming numbers, stoutly defended though it was by
Prescott and his gallant men. Retreat became inevitable — a retreat,

i Autobiography of Levi Hutchins, 24, 88.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 259

defiantly closed by the men of New Hampshire, who had fought on
the victorious left. These were the last to leave the bloody field,
where they had sustained one third of the American loss and
inflicted three fifths of the British. To the heroic doing of the
militia at Bunker Hill, which, in moral significance, made defeat the
synonym of victory, the men of Concord contributed their full share ;
and thus had helped to justify Washington's glad prediction in view
of the result, — " The liberties of America are safe." Of the fifteen
slain in Stark's command on that day, William Mitchell, of Captain
Abbot's company, was one.

The colonial congress reassembled ten days after the event of
Bunker Hill to continue, with occasional recesses, its important
labors until November ; the public interests being entrusted, in re-
cess, to the vigilant Committee of Safety, with the faithful Meshech
Weare at its head. Of course military affairs primarily engrossed
the attention of the congress. The regiments of Stark and Keid,
having, after the battle of Bunker Hill, been joined by that of Poor,
which had been retained for home duty, were posted north of Charles-
town in the left of the American line investing Boston. These,
including the men of Concord in the companies of Captains Abbot
and Hutchins, were soon largely enlisted into the continental army. 1
At Bunker Hill there had been some loss of fire-arms, equipments,
and clothing in the New Hampshire regiments, though it was com-
paratively small in the Concord companies. The duty of strictly
ascertaining that loss and of making compensation therefor in behalf
of the colony was assigned by the congress to Ichabod Rawlings (or
Rollins) and Timothy Walker, Jr., and was faithfully and acceptably
done. 2 In accordance with the recommendation of the continental
congress, the militia, comprising " all men from sixteen to fifty years
of age," was divided into twelve regiments, with Colonel Thomas
Stickney in command of the one embracing Concord. 3 In September
four reo-iments of minute-men were ordered to be enlisted out of
the twelve regiments of militia, consisting of a quarter part of each
company. The enlistments from Colonel Stickney's command were
assigned to the third regiment of minute-men, of which Timothy
Walker, Jr., was appointed colonel. They met for drill every fort-
night, and stood ready for service at a minute's warning. Concord
had at least one company in this important organization.

It was a busy year for the colonial congress. Portsmouth, down
by the sea, had to be provided with adequate means of defense, as
had also the western and northern frontiers up along the Connecti-

i See Continental Service in 1775-6-7, in note at close of chapter,

= N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol, VII, 584-600,

s Ibid, 577. «■

2t)0 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

cut river and the Canadian border. For the latter purpose, a ranger
regiment was organized in midsummer, and placed under command
of Colonel Timothy Bedel. Concord was probably represented in
this regiment, as it certainly was in another under the same com-
mander, raised early the next year to join the northern continental
army and help to retrieve the disasters of the Canadian campaign.
There were Concord men in the companies of Captains James Os-
good and Ebenezer Greene, in this regiment, for there are recorded
the names of eighteen who were taken prisoners in May, 1776, in the
" unfortunate affair " of " the Cedars," * a post on the St. Lawrence,
thirty-six miles above Montreal.

New Hampshire men, including some from Concord, had previously
participated in the operations against Canada. They had been pres-
ent in the unsuccessful assault upon Quebec on the last day of 1775,
when Arnold's force, after its fearful march through the wilds of
Maine, had made junction with that of Montgomery, advancing from
the Hudson by way of the St. Lawrence. Of those engaged in that
assault was Nathaniel Eastman of East Concord, who saw the gallant
and lamented Montgomery fall at the head of the assailing force. 2

The colony had already more than three thousand troops in service,
when, about the 1st of December, General Washington, through
Brigadier-General Sullivan in command on the left of the line invest-
ing Boston, requested more men from New Hampshire on short
enlistment. The exigency was a pressing one, for certain Connecti-
cut troops, refusing to remain beyond the period of their enlistment,
were about to leave a dangerous gap on the left through which the
beleaguered enemy might escape from Boston by land. The colonial
congress had dissolved, but the Committee of Safety promptly pro-
ceeded to comply with the urgent request of the commander-in-chief.
The requisition to enlist, for six weeks, thirty-one regiments of sixty-
four men each, officers included, 3 was, in a few days, substantially
fulfilled, and between eighteen hundred and two thousand volun-
teers 4 had rendered again entire the American line on Winter Hill.
Nor were these brave " Six Weeks' Men " punctilious as to the period
of enlistment, but remained upon duty for nearly double the time,
and until the British army was compelled to evacuate Boston, in
March, 1776. Concord was not remiss at this exigency, but con-
tributed a company, in command of Captain Benjamin Emery, with
John Bradley and Moses Eastman as lieutenants. 5

1 Bouton's Concord, 752; see Continental Service, etc., in note at close of chapter; also
see N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VIII, 152-3, and Military History, N. H. Adjutant-General's
Report, Vol. II (1866), pp. 286-7.

2 Adjutant-General's Report, 285 (note). 3 N. It. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 675.

* Mil. History, N. H. Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II (,1866;, p. 277; Hammond's Rev.
War Rolls, Vol. I, 209.
b Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II (1866), pp. 277-80,

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 261

While the colonial congress of 1775 was largely occupied with
military affairs, other matters required and received its attention.
The provincial records, civil and judicial, were transferred from Ports-
mouth to Exeter, now the colonial capital. A census was ordered
and taken, whereby the number of people was found to be eighty-
two thousand two hundred. 1 Of this number Concord had ten hun-
dred and fifty-two. Events, moreover, forcibly directed attention to
the subject of future government. As to this, the advice of the
continental congress was sought, and, early in November, was given
in a resolution recommending " to call a full representation of the
people ; and that the representatives, if they think it necessary,
establish such a form of government as, in their judgment, will best
produce the happiness of the people, and most effectually secure
peace and good order in the province during the continuance of the
present dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies." 2 Acting
upon this advice, the convention appointed a committee — of which
Colonel Walker, of Concord, was one — " to report a method for rep-
resentation." 3 On the 14th of November the committee presented a
report, which was adopted. This provided that every legal inhab-
itant paying taxes should be a voter ; that every person elected as a
representative to the colonial congress should have real estate in the
colony of the value of two hundred pounds lawful money ; that every
one hundred families entitled a town, parish, or precinct to one rep-
resentative, — places, each containing less than that number of fami-
lies, being classed ; that on the basis of the recent census, eighty-
nine representatives, authorized by their constituents to serve for one
year, might be chosen to meet in congress at Exeter on the 21st of
December; and, finally, that the congress should be empowered to
resolve itself into a house of representatives, if the form of govern-
ment assumed by the colony on the recommendation of the conti-
nental congress, should require such action. 4 Having provided for
duly notifying the one hundred and sixty-four towns, parishes, and
precincts of this " method of representation," and for calling meet-
ings of the inhabitants to carry it out, the congress dissolved on the
15th of November, 1775.

Accordingly, on the 5th of December, Timothy "Walker, Jr., was
elected to represent the parish of Concord 5 in the fifth provincial, or
second colonial, congress. Within a week after the meeting of this
body on the 21st of December, a committee was chosen to draw up a
plan for the government of the " Colony during the present contest
with Great Britain." 6 The plan was presented and adopted on the
5th of January, 1776.

i Belknap, 363. 4 Ibid, 657-660.

*N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 642. B Town Records, 147.

zibid, 655. ° N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VII, 703-4.

262 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

The watch for persons manifesting in any way a spirit inimical to
the American cause, became more and more vigilant. Town commit-
tees of safety were now very generally appointed to transmit to the
colonial authorities " the names and places of abode " of all suspected
persons, with " the causes and evidence of such suspicions/' Accord-
ingly, at the annual March meeting of 1776, "Philip Eastman,
Colonel Thomas Stickney, Timothy Walker, Jr., Joseph Hall, Jr.,
and Richard Herbert " were chosen " a Committee of Safety for the
parish of Concord " during the current year. Such a committee was
annually elected during the next three years. 1 To secure still more
effectually united support to the cause of America, and the detection
of all persons disaffected thereto, the continental congress, in March
of the same year, resolved " that it be recommended to the several
assemblies, conventions, and councils, or committees of safety, of the
United Colonies, immediately to cause all persons to be disarmed
within their respective colonies, who are notoriously disaffected to
the cause of America, or who have not associated, and refuse to asso-
ciate, to defend by arms the United Colonies against the hostile
attempts of the British fleets and armies." 2 To carry this resolve into
execution, the Committee of Safety, "for the Colony of New-Hamp-
shire," by "Meshech Weare, Chairman," issued in April, to the
selectmen of the several towns and parishes, a circular containing the
resolution of the continental congress, and a Declaration, or Associa-
tion Test, with the following recommendation : " You are requested
to desire all males above twenty-one years of age, — lunatics, idiots,
and negroes excepted,— to sign to the declaration on this paper ; and
when so done, to make return thereof, together with the name or
names of all who shall refuse to sign the same, to the General Assem-
bly, or Committee of Safety of this Colony." 3 The declaration to be
signed was in the following words : " In consequence of the above
Resolution of the Hon. Continental Congress, and to show our deter-
mination in joining our American brethren, in defending the lives,
liberties, and properties of the inhabitants of the United Colonies ;
We, the subscribers, do hereby solemnly engage, and promise, that
we will, to the utmost of our power, at the risque of our lives and for-
tunes, with arms, oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets
and armies against the United American Colonies." 4 In Concord
this test, or pledge, received one hundred and fifty-six signatures. 5
Nor was there to be found one delinquent name to mar the proud
record of patriotic unanimity.

That bold pledge of resistance to British tyranny was but the

> See names in note at close of chapter. 3 Ibid, 204.

2 N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VIII, 204-5. * Ibid, 204-5.

s N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VIII, 203-4; see, for signatures, Association Test in note at close
of chapter.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 263

natural precursor of the bolder assertion of severance from the British
empire. Indeed, the former was a sanction of the latter, and gave
assurance that the popular conviction was fast coining to be well up
with the advanced thought of those who, from the first, had foreseen
and desired the independence of America. The all-important ques-
tion of assuming independence was not much longer to tarry for
decision. Upon that question the continental congress sought from
the several colonies an authoritative expression of the popular will.
New Hampshire promptly responded by her legislature. On the 11th
of June, a committee of six — one of whom was Colonel Timothy
Walker, of Concord — was appointed " to make a draft of a declaration
of the general assembly for independence of the United Colonies "on
Great Britain." On the fifteenth a declaration was reported. It was
unanimously accepted, as " setting forth the sentiments and opinion
of the Council and Assembly," and was ordered to be sent to the
New Hampshire delegates in congress. It was a strong, explicit
manifesto, which, through its appropriate preamble of reasons for
entering upon that most important step of disunion from Great
Britain, reached this its bold conclusion : " We do, therefore, declare
that it is the opinion of this Assembly, that our Delegates at the
Continental Congress should be instructed, and they are hereby
instructed, to join with the other Colonies in declaring The Thirteen
United Colonies a Free and Independent State ; solemnly pledging
our faith and honor, that we will on our parts support the measure
with our lives and fortunes." 1

Within three weeks the continental congress put forth that Decla-
ration of Independence — sanctioned by separate colonial action—
which announced the birth of another power among the nations of
the earth, and made July the Fourth ever to be sacred in the calen-
dar of liberty. Thenceforth New Hampshire was no longer a Colony ;
it had become a State — one of the thirteen United States of America.

With characteristic energy, New Hampshire yielded full and ready
military support to the cause of American liberty and independence.
In course of the year 1776 the state had ten regiments in the field ;
comprising the three in command of Stark, Poor, and Reid, of the
regular, or continental, line, and seven of militia reinforcements—
including that of Colonel Bedel, before mentioned. 2 Concord men
were in Stark's regiment — twenty-five of them in Captain Joshua
Abbot's company, 3 and others in that of Captain Elisha Woodbury,
of which Daniel Livermore, of Concord, was lieutenant. 4 There

i N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VIII, 150.

2 Adjutant- General's Report, Vol. II (1866), p. 295.

s See Continental Service, etc., in note at close of chapter.

* Joseph B. Walker's address; Proceedings of N. H. Hist. Society, Vol. Ill, 66.

264 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

were thirteen Concord men in Captain Benjamin Emery's company, 1
belonging to Colonel Nalmm Baldwin's regiment, of which Gordon
Hntchins had become lieutenant-colonel; and five in the company
commanded by Captain Benjamin Sias of Canterbury, in Colonel
David Gilman's regiment. 1 Concord also contributed eighteen men, 2
at least, to the regiments of Colonels Isaac Wyman and Joshua
Wingate, but their names have not been preserved. The militia
regiments of Colonels Baldwin, Gilman, Wyman, and Wingate rein-
forced the continental army in New York ; and some of them took
part in the active operations of that neighborhood ; for Colonel
Hutchins led his regiment in the battle of White Plains, fought on
the 28th of October, 177(3.

After the evacuation of Boston by the British army, Stark's regi-
ment, then in the continental line, accompanied General Washington
to New York, whence it was sent to the help of the ill-fated expedi-
tion against Canada, originally under the conduct of Montgomery
and Arnold. But, as Stark foresaw, efforts in that direction proved
futile ; the only real success achieved being General Sullivan's skil-
ful withdrawal of the invading force to Crown Point and Ticon-
deroga. Among those who perished of the virulent smallpox which
prevailed during and after the retreat, was Abiel Chandler, who, at
the Lexington alarm, had led to the front Concord's first band of
volunteers in the Revolution, and had subsequently held important
official positions in Stark's regiment. 3 Late in the season Stark's
regiment and others of the Northern department joined Washington's
force on the right bank of the Delaware, strengthening the com-
mander-in-chief for a timely retrieval of ill fortune, and enabling him
to crown with victory the old year at Trenton, and the new at Prince-
ton. Men of Concord helped to achieve that success which rent the
thick cloud enveloping the patriot cause, and revealed its silver lining
of hope.

With the year 1777, thus auspiciously opened, the Continental
army was reorganized and strengthened by enlistment for three
years, or during the war. A change of commanders occurred, too,
in the three New Hampshire regiments. Upon the resignation of
Stark, over whom the continental congress had unjustly promoted
Poor, a junior officer, to be brigadier-general, Joseph Cilley succeeded
to the colonelcy of the " First." The other two regiments inter-
changed numbering. The " Second," becoming the "Third," was put
under the command of Alexander Scammell, as successor to Poor,
promoted ; while Nathan Hale was made colonel of the " Third "

1 See Continental Service, etc., in note at close of chapter.

* Bouton's Concord, 753.

zibid, 610 ; also, Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II (1866), pp. 265, 266.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 265

henceforth the " Second " —in place of Reid, disabled by blindness.
These regiments, in a brigade commanded by General Poor, had
rendezvous at Ticonderoga till midsummer. 1 Captain Daniel Liver-
more of Concord commanded a company in Colonel ScammeU's regi-
ment, containing seventeen of his townsmen. 2

The members of the assembly for 1777 had been elected as the
year before, but those of the council had been chosen for the first
time by popular vote. One of the five councilors for Rockingham
county was Colonel Timothy Walker of Concord, who had earned this
promotion by distinguished service in the congress, and in the lower
branch of the first legislature, and was twice to be re-elected to the
upper house. Colonel Gordon Hutchins succeeded him as a member
of the assembly. That council and assembly of 1777, as will soon
be seen, had a rare and well improved opportunity to contribute war
legislation, decisively promotive of the common cause.

In that crucial year of the Revolution, the favorite plan of the
British ministry to separate New England from the rest of the coun-
try, by occupying the line of the Hudson, was seriously attempted.
In early summer Lieutenant-General Burgoyne came out of Canada,
over Lake Champlain, intending to co-operate with Howe and Clin-
ton, who were to ascend the Hudson from New York. Washington,
while thinning his own command to strengthen that of the Northern
department, hindered Howe from effective co-operation with Bur-
goyne. The latter advanced southward, and approached Ticonder-
oga, where were stationed, with other troops, the three New Hamp-
shire regiments of Poor's brigade. 3 Meanwhile, numerous companies
were enlisted in New Hampshire, and sent forward to the relief of
the threatened fortress. Of these was one commanded by Lieuten-
ant-Colonel Gerrish of Boscawen, containing twenty or more Con-
cord men. This company, starting on the 5th of July, had marched
seventy-five miles, when it was met by the news that Ticonderoga
had been evacuated by the American forces. It was accordingly
turned back, and discharged within the week. 4 At the evacuation
of Ticonderoga, and the occurrence of untoward events immediately
succeeding, the alarm in Vermont was greatly intensified, and the
assistance of New Hampshire was earnestly sought. To meet the
case, the legislature convened in special session on the 17th of July.
Within three days effective measures were matured to render aid in
preventing the encroachment and ravages of the enemy. 5 The mil-
itia was divided into two brigades, one of which was placed in eom-

1 Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II (1866), p. 304.

2 See Continental Service, etc., in note at close of chapter.
s See Continental Service in note at close of chapter.

4 Bouton's Concord, 273-4 ; Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II (1866), p. 313.
s N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VIII, 634.

2<iH HISTORY OF CONCORD.

mand of John Stark, who had been for a few months in retirement —
the supersedure put upon him by the continental congress still gall-
ing his patriotic spirit. But now his time had come to take a
foremost place among his country's commanders, through brilliant,
timely achievement in his country's cause. Brigadier-General by com-
mission from New Hampshire, he could now raise his independent
force on John Langdon's historic pledge of means, — in cash, Tobago
rum, and silver plate, — and could lead it to a victory that should
have in it the fust sure guaranty of national independence at last.

The legislature, the wise and timely action of which had rendered
possible so momentous a result, closed its labors on Saturday, the
19th of July. The earnest patriot who represented Concord could
not tarry in Exeter; but forthwith riding away on horseback, he pur-
sued his homeward course through the night, and reached his jour-
ney's end during the religious service of Sunday afternoon. Dis-
mounting at the meeting-house, he hurried in, and, as he passed
up the aisle, the venerable pastor interrupted his sermon with the
inquiry, — " Colonel Hutchins, are you the bearer of any message ? "
" Yes," replied the eager messenger, " General Burgoyne, with his
army, is on his march to Albany. General Stark has offered to take
command of New Hampshire troops ; and if we all turn out, we can
cut off Burgoyne's march." " My hearers," responded Mr. Walker,
" those of you who are willing to go had better go at once." That
quiet suggestion from the pulpit was as a battle-cry to the men of
the congregation, who at once arose, and went outside. Enlistments
were promptly offered, and preparations went on during the night.
When Phinehas Virgin said he could not go because he had no shoes,
Samuel Thompson, a shoemaker, assured him that he should have a
pair before morning, and made good his word. Jonathan Eastman
had the same want as promptly supplied. 1

Meanwhile, Burgoyne was plodding his weary march southward,
impeded by obstructions thrown in his way by the American army
sullenly retreating. Having reached Fort Edward, he sent out early
in August a detachment of Hessians and Tories, with a party of
Indians, all in command of Colonel Baum, on an errand of various
mischief, to the eastward, through Vermont. But Stark's New
Hampshire volunteers had been gathering in rendezvous beyond the
Green Mountains, and with the militiamen of that neighborhood,
stood ready to confront the marauding foe. These, with a small
force from western Massachusetts, and with Warner's " Green Moun-
tain Boys," all under the skilful leadership of Stark, fought and
won, on the 16th of August, 1777, the storied battle of Benning-
ton.

1 Bouton's Concord, 274-5.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 267

On the extreme right of the enemy's entrenched line, in that bat-
tle, was the Tory position, a heavy breastwork of logs, where the
most desperate resistance was expected and realized. This strong-
hold, Colonel Thomas Stickney, of the Eleventh regiment, which con-
tained the Concord volunteers, was, with Colonel Hobart, of the
Twelfth, ordered to attack. In face of a sharp fire, the two compa-
nies advanced briskly upon the enemy's position through an inter-
vening corn-field, from which, by Stark's order, the men stripped each
a husk, and placed it beneath the hatband, " to prevent mistake," in
" the close work " with foes " dressed like themselves " in every-day
garb. 1 The fortification was stormed and surrounded. The Tories
fought obstinately, but finally succumbed to the resistless onslaught
of " bayonet and clubbed musket." x Some of the Concord men who
were in the fight were Colonel Thomas Stickney, Lieutenant Richard
Herbert, Elias, Jesse, and John Abbot, Philbrick Bradley, Ephraim
Fisk, Sr., Ephraim Fisk, Jr., Abner Flanders, Timothy Johnson,
Samuel Kinkson (or Kinsman), and John Peters. The names of
thirty-three men known to have enlisted 2 have been preserved. It
is probable that some of the thirty-three did not arrive at Bennington
in season for the battle. This certainly happened in the case of the
thirty volunteers raised by Colonel Gordon Hutchins, whose names
are not recorded, and who, though making all due haste, reached the
scene of action too late. 3 There was, however, to be a chance for all
within the next two months ; for Bennington was the auspicious
prophecy of Saratoga with its decisive battling at Bemus Heights.
The men of New Hampshire and of Concord, in both the continental
and the volunteer service, were to have a hand in the important
operations of September and October, resulting in the surrender of
Burgoyne. Some who volunteered for the Bennington expedition
continued in the service ; while Captain Joshua Abbot headed a com-
pany in Lieutenant-Colonel Gerrish's command, detached from the
Eleventh regiment, in special reinforcement of the northern army at
Saratoga. 4

When, after the successes of Bennington and Saratoga, those sure
pointers to the star of final victory that should rise and stand over
Yorktown, Washington withdrew to winter quarters at Valley Forge.
Poor's brigade, containing Concord men, went with him. Among
these was Captain Livermore. 5 When, again, after a winter of
gloomy suffering, the American army, in June, 1778, came up with
the enemy marching northward from luxurious quarters in Philadel-

1 Adjutant-General's Report, Vol. II (1866), p. 320.

1 See Bennington in note at close of chapter.

3 Bouton's Concord, 275.

* See Saratoga in note at close of chapter.

c J. B. Walker's Address, Proceedings N. H. Hist. Soc, Vol. Ill, 691.

268 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

phia, and fought at Monmouth, Concord men were theie. When,
still again, the same year, it was planned that a land force should, in
co-operation with a French fleet, wrest Rhode Island from British
grasp, and New Hampshire furnished troops to aid the undertaking,
Concord supplied its quota of volunteers. 1 In 1779, Concord men in
Poor's brigade did service in Sullivan's expedition against the Tories
and Six Nations, and helped to avenge the bloody outrages of Cherry
A" alley and Wyoming, and to prevent their repetition. In special
levies, 2 as well as in the regular line, the men of Concord stood on
guard at West Point, in 1780 ; and, the next year, they took part in
that decisive Virginia campaign which resulted in the victory of
Vorktown and the surrender of Cornwallis. Even after this triumph,
the virtual close of the struggle for American independence, some
men of Concord remained on military duty for yet two years, until
the formal declaration of peace in 1783. 3

The records of the parish during the long years of revolutionary
struggle contain, of course, much legislation adapted to the existing
state of war. In 1777, while thirty pounds were raised for highways,
and sixty pounds to defray " other necessary charges," the hundred
pounds paid by Oliver Hoyt for the " eighty-acre lot belonging to
the school right " were appropriated " for a town stock of ammuni-
tion " ; 4 and four hundred and sixty pounds lawful money were
ordered to " be raised upon the ratable polls and estates in Concord
for paying the continental soldiers raised by the parish." 4 In 1778
it was voted that an average be made in hiring continental soldiers,
and a committee was appointed " to examine into what every man"
had "done in the war." 5 In 1779, Colonel Thomas Stickney, Cap-
tain Aaron Kinsman, and Timothy Walker, Esq., were chosen " a
committee to procure eight soldiers,"- — " the proportion that the par-
ish " had " to raise in order to fill up the continental army." 6 In
1780, provision was made " to give the soldiers that " had "lately
engaged to serve six months in the continental army, ten bushels of
Indian corn, or money equal thereto." 7 Early in 1781, a committee
was appointed, "with discretionary powers," to raise "sixteen more
soldiers " for the continental service. Of these some were hired from
other places and credited to Concord. "One thousand Spanish
milled dollars" were raised "to enable the parish to procure the sol-
diers " 8 under this call, which seems to have been the last made upon
it for troops in the Revolution.

While Concord had its men at the front fighting for independence,

1 See Rhode Island Expedition in note at close of chapter. 6 Ibid, 157-8.

2 See list in note at close of chapter. 'Ibid, 173.

3 See names of Rangers in note at close of chapter. " Ibid, 184.

* Town Records, 153. s Ibid, 187-8.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 269

it was little inclined to brook covert hostility, at home, to the conn-
try's sacred cause, or even lnkewarmness therein. Its committees of
safety kept a sharp lookout for symptoms of Toryism, especially dur-
ing the first four years of the war. Though the Association Test had
been signed in Concord without dissent, yet by the year 1777 cer-
tain individuals had become suspected of disaffection to the Ameri-
can side. ( Ymsequently, after the business of the annual meeting, on
the 4th of March, in that year, was finished, votes to the following
effect were passed : " That this parish will break off all dealings with
Peter Green, Esqr, Mr. John Stevens, Mr. Nathl Green, and Dr.
Philip Caragain, until they give satisfaction to the parish for their
past conduct ; that they be advertised in the public prints as enemies
to the United States of America, unless " they " give said satisfaction
within thirty days from this date ; that" they "be disarmed by the
committee of safety until they give satisfaction to the public ; and
that" whoever shall, before such satisfaction rendered, "have any
dealings with " them, shall " be looked upon as enemies to their coun-
try by this parish." : The popular feeling seems to have been espe-
cially intense against Peter Green, for it was recommended " to apply
to the courts of judicature to dismiss " him "from all business hence-
forth and forever." 1 Besides, it is related that, on one occasion, his
house was threatened with destruction by zealous West Concord
patriots, and that the threat failed of execution only through the
shrewd and timely intervention of Timothy Walker, Jr., and .John
Bradley, 2 no less patriotic, but more discreet, than those who had
planned violence.

The severe votes passed by the parish not producing the desired
effect, Green, the lawyer, and Stevens, the merchant, were arrested
by the committee of safety and taken to Exeter, where they were
lodged in jail. 3 Green, upon taking the oath of allegiance, was early
released, and subsequently enjoyed the confidence of his fellow-citi-
zens, whom he served in important official positions. Stevens, on
the contrary, never would take the required oath, but lie swore that
he was "as good a friend of his country as any one who had caused
his arrest." 4 He, however, finally received his release by order of
the legislature, and with it a commission as justice of the peace, in
token of restored confidence. Later, the parish rescinded its vote 5
" to break off all dealings " with him, but no amends could cure the
merchant's bitter resentment, which he carried with him to his grave. 6

1 Town Records, 154.

2 Bouton's Concord, 272-3.

3 See note at close of chapter.

4 Bouton's Concord, 273, 561.

5 Town Records, 211.

,; See Merchant Stevens, in note at close of chapter.

270 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

The protraction of the war, with its expenditures to be met only
by paper money irredeemable in gold or silver, began, by 1777, to
unsettle values, carrying up prices, and working other mischief. The
legislature of New Hampshire, acting under advice of the continental
congress, passed an act for " preventing monopoly and oppression "
by regulating the prices of sundry articles of necessary or common
use, and the compensation for various kinds of labor. In May, of
that year, the parish of Concord appointed " Captain Reuben Kim-
ball, Mr. Amos Abbot, Mr. John Kimball, Lieutenant Robert Davis,
and Mr. David Hall " a committee " to carry into execution " the
state enactment. 1 By July, the committee had performed the task
of affixing, in accordance with the law, maximum prices to a multi-
tude of " articles," but they could not thereby " carry into execution "
an impracticable statute. Their report, however, has historic value,
picturing, as it does in suggestive outline, the industries and produc-
tions, and the means and modes of life, existent in the parish at that
time.

This measure, wherever tried, proved an ineffectual palliative for
the evils produced by a financial system fundamentally wrong. The
country was flooded with continental " promises to pay," swelled by
state issues of the same sort, though New Hampshire issued none
after 1777. This irredeemable paper currency, misnamed " money,"
was fast sinking to absolute worthlessness with the consequence of
financial confusion, distress, and ruin. In 1779 another attempt was
made, in New Hampshire and other states, to " appreciate the cur-
rency by regulating the prices." To this end a state convention was
held in Concord on the 22d of September, in which Major Jonathan
Hale and Colonel Timothy Walker represented the parish. 2 Certain
recommendations were agreed upon. In Concord, a committee was
appointed to regulate prices as recommended by the convention.
What further action, if any, was ever taken in the matter is not
recorded.

Within the next two years the figures of parish expenditures rose,
as the value of paper currency fell. Thus, in the spring of 1780,
the sum of "nine thousand pounds" 3 was voted to defray parish
expenses for the year, including minister's salary in arrearage for two
years. Six months later "thirty thousand pounds" 4 additional were
raised for the same purpose. An appropriation of " two thousand
four hundred pounds " 5 was also made for highways. In March,
1781, "fifty thousand pounds" 6 were appropriated "for the neces-
sary charges of the parish," exclusive of those for highways, and for

1 Town Records, 155-8; see also specific report in note at close of chapter. 4 Ibid, 184.
* Town Records, 177-8. » Ibid, 182.

s Ibid, 182. <■ Ibid, 190.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 271

these the same allowance was made as the year before. In ( )ctober
the item of current expenses received the addition of " one hundred
eighty pounds hard money." ] But in 1782, when the bubble of
inflated [taper currency had burst, and wiser financial counsels were
beginning to prevail, the parish appropriations, estimated in "hard
money," resumed their wonted figures. Then " four hundred and
eighty pounds lawful silver money" 2 were voted to defray the annual
parish expenses, and " sixty pounds lawful silver money to repair
the highways "; while labor upon the roads was fixed at " two shil-
lings 2 per day," instead of "six pounds," 3 the compensation of the
two previous years.

In 1778, amid the preoccupations and difficulties of war, an attempt
was made to substitute, for the imperfect and temporary form of gov-
ernment established in 1776, a new constitution. On the 26th of
January, " the inhabitants of Concord," in parish meeting, instructed
their representative, Colonel Thomas Stickney, " to use his influence
at the next session of the General Assembly, that a full and free
representation of the people of this State be called as soon as conven-
iently may be, for the sole purpose of laying a permanent plan, or
system, for the future government of this State." 4 In accordance
with such expression of the popular will throughout the state, the
legislature appointed a constitutional convention to be held at Con-
cord on the first Tuesday of June. Thus was first officially rec-
ognized by legislative authority the fitness of Concord, from its
centrality and other advantages, as a place for state assembling.
The recognition foretold that Concord would, sometime, be the cap-
ital of New Hampshire. On the 10th of June, the convention, com-
posed of seventy-three delegates — one being Timothy Walker, Jr., of
Concord — assembled in the meeting-house, which, by order of the par-
ish, 5 had been somewhat repaired for its new use. Some of the most
distinguished men of the state — among whom were John Langdon
and the three signers of the Declaration of Independence, Josiah
Bartlett, William Whipple, and Matthew Thornton — served in this
first New Hampshire constitutional convention, but their labors went
for naught. The constitution which was finally agreed upon a year
later contained no provision for a distinct executive, and was other-
wise defective, if not positively objectionable, so that, when it was
sent out to the people, it was " totally rejected." 6 When the ques-
tion of accepting the "plan of government" was put to vote in par-
ish meeting in Concord, " there appeared," says the record, " twenty-
six for receiving the said plan, and twenty-five rejected the same." "

» Town Records, 196. 6/5^,166-7.

*Ibid, 202. (; Bouton's Concord, 277.

» Ibid, 182, 190. '• Town Records, 176.
« Tbid, 162.

272 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

This close vote in Concord was more favorable to the proposed con-
stitution than was that of most other places.

Two years later, in obedience to a joint resolve of the legislature,
a second constitutional convention was called to be held in Concord.
To this, Colonel Timothy Walker was chosen a delegate. The con-
vention first met on the 5th of June, 1781, in the hall over the store
of " Merchant " Stevens, where were held most, if not all, of its seven
sessions during an existence of nearly two years and a half. The
last was held on the 31st of October, 1783, when, after the submis-
sion of two drafts of a constitution to the people, and their rejection,
the third was found to have been accepted, and was accordingly
declared to be the fundamental law of the state.

Upon the first " plan of government," as devised by the conven-
tion, and sent to the people in September, 1781, the vote in Concord
stood " forty-eight against, and none for it." x This rejection, how-
ever, was accompanied by the suggestion of the following amend-
ments : That there be "town representation;" that there be "a gov-
ernor at the head of the legislative body ; that the governor shall
not have a privy council ; and that the people at large shall appoint
their militia officers." * When the second form of the constitution
was submitted to the people by the convention, on the third Wednes-
day of August, 1782, the voters of Concord, wishing to act with due
deliberation upon the question of acceptance, selected a committee of
seven, consisting of Colonel Timothy Walker, Colonel Thomas Stick-
ney, Captain Benjamin Emery, Captain Reuben Kimball, Lieutenant
.John Bradley, Dr. Peter Green, and Mr. Henry Martin, to consider
the subject, and make report at an adjourned meeting. 2 When the
matter came up for final decision, on the 16th of December, the
plan of government, as it then stood, was rejected by all the fifty-two
voters present; but with the amendments proposed by the commit-
tee, " it was received by thirty." The amendments were : " That the
governor and privy council be left out, and that there be a pres-
ident, a legislative council, and a house of representatives ; and
that the powers which are vested in a governor and council be vested
in the council and house of representatives." 3 Finally, at the third
and successful attempt of the convention to present a constitution
acceptable to the people, Concord, in September, 1783, contributed
to the general popular approval, a vote of two to one — or twenty
for to ten against. 4

In view of the difficulties experienced in constitution-making,
provision had been made, on recommendation of the legislature, that
the constitution of 1776, which, by its terms, could be operative only

'Town Records, 199. 3 /6;'d,208.

2 Ibid, 208. * Ibid, 212.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 273

during the war, should be continued in force till June 10, 1784,
even if peace should come before a new plan of government could be
provided. 1 This proved a wise precaution ; for peace was proclaimed
on the 19th of April, 1783, — the eighth anniversary of Lexington,—
and a little more than six months before the new form of govern-
ment, as accepted by the people, was proclaimed by the convention
to be the " Civil Constitution for the State of New Hampshire,''' and
to go into full effect "on the first Wednesday of June, 1781." 2

Meanwhile, the legislature had begun to hold sessions in Concord.
The question of adjourning the general court from Exeter to Con-
cord having come up at the January session, 1782, it was decided in
the affirmative by the house, but was non-concurred in by the
council. Thereupon, however, the house adhered to its vote, by
twenty-seven yeas to twenty nays, and the legislature stood adjourned
till Wednesday, the 13th of March, "then to meet at the meeting-
house in Concord." 3 It was largely through the address and influ-
ence of Judge 4 Walker, that the dissatisfaction of certain members of
the legislature with the accommodations at Exeter was thus turned
to the advantage of Concord, which that gentleman represented, and
whose interests he always vigilantly watched. On the 13th of
March, " sundry members of the House " —as runs the official
record 5 — " met, according to adjournment, at the meeting-house in
Concord, and, as it was inconvenient to hold the Court there, owing
to the inclemency of the season, agreed to adjourn, and meet again
forthwith in a building prepared for their reception." The place
thus " prepared " was a room in Judge Walker's store, 6 where the
house was accommodated ; while the council held its sessions in the
south parlor of the minister's dwelling, a short distance north.
Concord was also the seat of the next two successive sessions ; held,
the one, in June, the other, in September. As to the place, in the
first of the two adjournments, decision was made by a vote of forty-
five yeas to twenty nays ; in the second, without opposition. 7
Thenceforward, Concord was a frequent, though, for more than
twenty years, not the permanent, place of legislative meeting. The
citizens of the parish duly appreciated the actual and potential
advantage of even the earliest legislative recognition of Concord as
a desirable seat of the state government; and discerned in that
recognition the ultimate fulfilment of a " manifest destiny." They

i N. H. State Papers, Vol. VIII, 968-69-70.
2 N. H. State Papers, Vol. IX, 918-19.
»N. H. State Papers, Vol. VIII, 931-2.

* Timothy Walker, Jr., had been for sometime upon the bench of the court of common
pleas.
SN. H. State Papers, Vol. VIII, 936.
6 Ibid (note); see, also, note at close of chapter.
» N. H. State Papers, Vol, VIII, 938, 947.

l 9

274

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

sought to provide suitable accommodations — among others, a becom-
ing temporary state house. For ten years the question of finishing
the meeting-house, so as the better to meet ordinary parish uses, had
been frequently agitated ; 2 but, from various causes, especially the
preoccupying demands of the Revolutionary struggle, the work had
not been done. 2 Now, however, the new political exigency hastened
the fulfilment of the delayed purpose. The right in the building,
with its acre and a half of ground, held, since 1751, by individuals,
under the style of " Proprietors of the Meeting House," — as men-
tioned in the previous chapter, — was, in 1782, relinquished to the
parish ; 3 and, erelong, the former structure was put in process of
renovation 4 — a work which had made good progress in 1783, but

was not completed
till 1784, 5 when
the pews were or-
dered to be sold
at vendue. 6

"The meeting-
house was fin-
ished," writes Dr.
Bouton, 7 " in what
was considered a
superior style.
The entrances
were at a door in
the middle, on the
south side, and at
two porches, one
at the east with a
steeple, and the
other at the west.
The pulpit was
about twelve feet
high, with a window back of it, and over head a large sounding-
board. ( hi the lower floor, aisles extended from the south door to
the pulpit, and from one porch to the other, and side aisles separated
the wall-pews from those in the body of the house. At the base
of the pulpit, on a platform about two feet high, was a seat for aged
men ; and in front of that, less elevated, was the deacons' seat. Sus-

First Frame Meeting-house, with Subsequent Additions.

4 Town Records, 201.
6 Ibid, 216-17.

"Town Records, 128-9.

J Ibid, 166,202-3.

3 Bouton's Concord, 285.

6 Ibid; also, see Recorded Assignment of Pews in note at close of chapter.

» History of Concord, 286-7,

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 275

pencled from the front of the deacons' seat by hinges was a circular
board, which served for a table on sacramental occasions. The pulpit
stairs were on the west side, and underneath the pulpit on the east
was a closet. The wall and body pews were square, with seats hung
on hinges, to be raised when the congregation stood in prayer. Near
the middle of the house were five slips or ' seats ' on each side, re-
served for persons who did not own ' pews ' — the men sitting on the
west side, and women on the east. The gallery was also fitted up
with pews, considerably elevated, around the wall. A large, square
pew opposite the pulpit was built for the singers, with a circular
table on which to lay their books. Two large pews were finished,
contiguous to the singers' seat — one on the east and the other on the
west side. The other space in the gallery was laid off into slips for
common use ; reserving — according to the custom of the times — one
slip for negroes, near the east door of the gallery."

But on the first day of September, 1782, the pulpit of the church,
about to be renovated, missed its wonted preacher. On the morning
of that Sabbath day, the Reverend Timothy Walker suddenly died
" in the seventy-eighth year of his age, and the fifty-second of his
ministry." 1 The congregation, gathering for accustomed worship,
heard not the gospel from revered lips, but with sorrowful surprise,
the tidings that those lips were sealed in death. 2 In due time came
the funeral, conducted by a committee of the parish, when the people
came together in a body to mourn for their lost pastor, as for a father ;
and when with fit solemnities, and with his ministerial brethren of
the country round to bear the pall, 3 the first minister of Concord was
carried to his burial. 4

The life, the close of which is here recorded, was so closely and
prominently identified with the life of Concord, that the history of
the latter has necessarily included largely that of the former. For
more than fifty years, to this citizen and minister of the gospel, the
well-being of the community in which he dwelt and for which he
wrought, was precious even "as the apple of his eye." A round-
about common sense was an eminent characteristic of his; and a keen
sagacity was wont to discern the end from the beginning. Conse-
quently, his counsel was safe ; and his methodical action tended to
success, whether in ministerial effort, or in the cultivation of his
farm, or in the prosecution of Rumford's case before the courts of
Great Britain. His superiority of mental training was an advantage
which he used to promote the interests of his fellow-citizens and
parishioners ; and while it exalted his ideals, it did not lift him above

i Bouton's Concord, 284. 3 Ibid, 284.

2 Ibid, 561. « See Funeral Expenses in note at close of chapter.

276 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

sympathy with the practical and even commonplace life of those less
favored among whom his lot was cast. Hence, he enjoyed the affec-
tion of the people. Weight of character and accompanying personal
dignity won universal respect for the blue-eyed, portly parson of
medium stature, wearing, according to the fashion of his day, the
powdered wig, three-cornered hat, short clothes, and buckled shoes. 1
This respect had one manifestation in the custom of his parishioners
to remain standing after the Sabbath service, till their minister, with
courteous bowing, had passed out of the church. The similar feeling
used to be forcibly enough expressed by Ephraim Colby, the Revo-
lutionary veteran and sturdy fisticuff and wrestler, when he said,
" Parson Walker is the only man the Almighty ever made that I am
afraid of." But the dignity of this serious man was without morose-
ness ; and it is reported of him that " though not talkative, he was
agreeable in social intercourse, and occasionally facetious." 1

A " moderate Calvinist," orthodox according to the Westminster
Catechism, and tenacious of Puritan Congregationalism, Mr. Walker
desired to keep his people united in religious faith and practice, and
succeeded in doing so throughout his long ministry. His preaching,
however, was more practical than doctrinal, and was embodied in half-
hour sermons, carefully written, and calmly, yet effectively, delivered.
Moreover, the religion of Concord's first minister embraced love of
his country as well as of his God. His patriotism was genuine and
ardent ; the American cause, during its Revolutionary ordeal, — the
actual, though not the formal, close of which he lived to see, — was
in his prayers, and its triumph in his hopes — nay, in his faith. This
triumph he had foreseen from the beginning of the struggle ; but
when the tidings of Bennington came to him, he could, with fervent
assurance, exclaim, as he did : " Blessed be God ! the country is
saved — I can now die in peace ! " 2 And in that peace did die, five
years later, the aged Christian and patriot.

But the venerable pastor, whose efforts had contributed so much
to rescue, in 1765, his municipality from chaos, did not live to see its
legal name of Town restored. For nineteen years, Concord, much
to the distaste of its inhabitants, held the title of " Parish of Bow,"
and, in vain, desired a restoration of " the bounds of Rumford."
But, at last, on the second day of January, 1784, a legislative act —
mentioned in the preceding chapter — annexed " a part of Canterbury
and Loudon to the parish of Concord," thus partially restoring the
ancient bounds ; while in the same act, the sensible and desirable
provision was added, "that the Parish of Concord be henceforth
called the Town of Concord, any law, usage, or custom to the contrary

} Bouton's Concord, 557-8, » Annals of Concord, 44.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 277

notwithstanding." l Thus was restored the proper municipal desig-
nation of which the settlement — first, as Rumford, then as Concord —
had been deprived for the more than forty years it had been under
the jurisdiction of New Hampshire.

Notes.

Locations. The " middle way '" location of the school " in the
town street " was a few rods north of the modern Opera House, or
the site of Gass's American House. . . . Captain John Chand-
ler's residence stood upon the site occupied a century later by Ham-
ilton Perkins, and, in 1900, by General Joab N. Patterson.
The site of Lot Colby's residence was later occupied by Joseph S.
Lund. Bouton's Concord, 2JJJ/..

Sarah, Countess of Rumford. Dr. Bouton, in History of Concord,
573, gives the following sketch of the eventful life of this lady :—
" She was born in the family mansion — the Rolfe house — October
18, 1774. A portion of her early life was spent with her paternal
grandmother, at Woburn. After the death of her mother, in 1792,
she went to Europe, at her father's invitation, and was introduced
into the polite and fashionable circles of Bavaria, of Paris, and of
London. Between the death of her father and her own decease she
visited this country two or three times ; but her principal residence
was at Brompton, near London, in a house which she inherited from
her father. A portion of her time she spent in Paris, where she had
funds invested. In 1845 she returned to the spot where she was
born, to live and — to die. Here she remained in great retirement,
having, as her only companion and the solace of her declining years,
a young lady whom she adopted when a child, at Brompton." [This
young lady was Miss Emma Gannell. She afterwards married Mr.
John Burgum of Concord, who was a native of Birmingham, England.]
" Occasionally the countess attended public worship at the North
church, and visited her family relatives and friends, but spent most
of her time in adorning the grounds about her house and fitting
things to her taste. By her habits of strict economy the property
she inherited, together with her pension of about eight hundred
dollars, had accumulated to a very considerable sum at the time of
her decease — all which she disposed of by will, partly to family con-
nections, but mostly for charitable objects.

1. To the Rolfe and Rumford Asylum, in Concord, $5,000

which she founded — with all her real estate,

apprised at ... . 5,000

2. To the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane, 15,000

i Acts of 1784, p. 531.

278 HISTORY OP CONCORD.

3. To the Concord Female Charitable Society, . $2,000

4. To the Boston Children's Friend Society, . 2,000

5. For the Fatherless and Widows' Society, Boston, 2,000

She left a legacy of $10,000 to Joseph Amedee LeFebre, a son of
her natural brother, Captain LeFebre of the French army, on con-
dition that he would assume the name of Joseph Amedee Rumford.
The executor of her will was James F. Baldwin, of Boston, who was
a neighbor and personal friend of the countess in youth, and her
financial agent in later years. The paintings which she inherited
from her father, consisting of a portrait of the Elector of Bavaria,
and Prince Maximilian, afterwards king of Bavaria ; also, of several
ladies of the court, and several of Count Rumford, representing him
at different periods of life — were given to Joseph B. Walker, to de-
scend at his decease to his son, Charles Rumford Walker. A beau-
tiful marble monument is erected to her memory in the old burying-
ground, near the Walker family."

Concord Men at Bunker Hill. In Captain Abbot's company were :
Joshua Abbot, captain ; Abiel Chandler, second lieutenant ; Jeremiah
Abbot, sergeant ; Samuel Davis, sergeant ; Nathaniel C, Stephen,
Reuben, and Amos Abbot ; Jonathan Bradley, Ephraim Colby, Eze-
kiel Dimond, Moses and Stephen Hall, William Mitchell, Richard
Flood, William Straw, Peter Chandler. — In Captain Hutchins's com-
pany were : Gordon Hutchins, captain ; Daniel Livermore, lieutenant ;
Benjamin Abbot, sergeant ; Simeon Danforth, corporal ; William
Walker, corporal ; Robert Livingston, Isaac and Peter Johnson,
Abraham Kimball, Thomas Chandler, Joseph Grace, Samuel Straw,
Levi Hutchins, fifer; Michael Flanders, drummer ; Ezra Badger. — In
( aptain Kinsman's company were : Aaron Kinsman, captain ; Eben-
ezer Eastman, lieutenant ; Samuel Thompson, corporal. Most of this
company were from other towns. — Besides those named above, there
were at Bunker Hill the following Concord men: Jonathan Currier,
Edward Evans, William Fifield, Timothy Simonds, and Andrew
Stone ; but to which of the three companies they respectively be-
longed is uncertain. — Abiel Chandler, the Concord schoolmaster
and surveyor, who led the men who flew to the front at the Lexing-
ton alarm, is recorded both as a lieutenant in Captain Abbot's com-
pany and as adjutant of Stark's regiment. Adjutant- Generals Re-
port, Vol. II (1860), pp. 265-6. — Captain Gordon Hutchins was
wounded in the battle. His son Levi, fourteen years old, accom-
panied him to the front as a fifer, but was not allowed by his father
to be present in the battle, though he witnessed it at a distance. The
youth was afterwards in service with his father in New York. See
Autobiography of Levi Hutchins.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 279

Continental Service, 1775-6—7. The names of the following eight
men were reported by Timothy Walker, Jr., and Benjamin Emery,
selectmen, as being in the Continental service for the years 1775— '7<> :
Jeremiah Abbot, Nathaniel C. Abbot, John Kinkson, William Straw,
Andrew Stone, William Walker, Nathaniel Eastman, Jr., and Moses
Hall. — Ix Colonel Timothy Bedel's regiment, operating in Canada in
the spring of 1776, and in the companies commanded respectively by
Captains James Osgood and Ebenezer Green, were Concord men.
In Captain Osgood's company were : John Webster, lieutenant ;
Richard H. Osgood, sergeant ; Hubbard Carter, sergeant ; Joshua
Danforth, corporal ; Nathaniel C. Abbot, Nathaniel Walker, Joseph
Lund, Joseph Giles ; Ezra, Elias, and Philip Abbot : Benjamin
Fifield, Ezekiel Eastman, Nathan Kinsman, Benjamin Keimiston,
Daniel Chandler, Samuel Danford, and William Simonds ; in Cap-
tain Green's company were Irad Glines, Ebenezer Hall, and Joseph
Chanler. Some of the above-mentioned were taken prisoners on the
19th of May, 1776, at the fort called "the Cedars," and were
stripped of most of their clothing, and all of their equipments and
utensils for camp and field. Among those faring thus were Elias,
Ezra, and Philip Abbot, and Benjamin Fifield. — In a company com-
manded by Captain Benjamin Sias of Canterbury, and belonging to
Colonel David Oilman's regiment, on service in New York in 1776,
were Philbrick Bradley, Peter Blanchard, Amos Abbot, Jr., Daniel
Carter, and Richard Flood. — In 1776 the following Concord men
stood enrolled in Captain Joshua Abbot's company : Abiel Chandler,
lieutenant; Ephraim Colby, ensign ; Timothy Hall, Jonathan Hasel-
tine, Philip Page, Amos Barnes, Terence McColley, Beriah and
Moses Abbot, Stephen Hall, Peter Chandler, John Merrill, Seth
Spring, John Blanchard, Benjamin Powell, Hezekiah Colby, William
Walker, Phinehas Stevens, Jonathan Johnson, Samuel Worthen,
Moses Hall, Peter Carey, Jonathan Bradley, and Ephraim Fisk.—
For Captain Benjamin Emery's company, in Colonel Nahum Bald-
win's regiment, of which Gordon Hutchins was lieutenant-colonel,
and which reinforced the Continental army in New York in 1776,
Concord furnished the following named persons : Aaron Kinsman,
ensign ; Israel Glines, Ezra Badger, John Carter, Jonathan Currier,
Simeon Colby, Ephraim Kinsman, William and Ezekiel Stickney,
Jacob Carter, Solomon Gage, Benjamin Elliot, and Bruce Walker.—
In 1777, in Captain Daniel Livermore's company of the Third New
Hampshire regiment, the following Concord names were enrolled :
Robert Livingston, sergeant ; Amos Flood, corporal ; Abner Hogg,
Phinehas Stevens, Daniel Chandler, Philip Rowell, Samuel Worthen,
Abiel Stevens, Solomon Fisk, Obadiah Kimball, Abner and Ebenezer

280

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Farnum, Beriah Abbot, William and Jacob Eastman, John Straw, and
Samuel Colby. — At Ticonderoga, in 1777, the company commanded
by Captain Ebenezer Webster of Salisbury, and belonging to Colonel
Thomas Stickney's regiment, contained the following named Concord
men : Richard Herbert, lieutenant ; William Simonds, Timothy
Bradley, Simeon Danforth ; Isaac, Elias, John, and Ezra Abbot;
Phinehas Stevens, Ezekiel Dimond, John Peters; Nathaniel, John,
and Stilson Eastman ; Ebenezer Farnum, Ephraim Fisk, Jr., Abial
Hall, Isaac Chandler, Israel Glines, and Benjamin Rolfe.

Relief of Ticonderoga. In Lieutenant-Colonel Gerrish's regiment,
raised in Concord and vicinity, and which marched July 5th, 1777,
for the relief of Ticonderoga, and having marched seventy-five miles,
was met by the news of the evacuation of the fort, and turned back
to be discharged on the 12th of July, were the following men from
Concord: Richard Herbert, lieutenant; William Simonds, Timothy
Bradley, John Chase ; Richard, Joseph, Nathaniel, John, and Stilson
Eastman ; Simeon Danforth, Isaac and Elias Abbot, Daniel and
Ebenezer Farnum, John Peters, Ephraim Fisk, Jr., Abial Hall,
Isaac Chandler, Israel ( {lines, Phinehas Stevens, Ezekiel Dimond,
and Benjamin Rolfe. (With these are set down the following who
may not have belonged to Concord : Jacob Heath, Stephen Haines,
John Cross, and Peter Blanchard.)

Committees of Safety. The Committees of Safety for the three years
following 1776 were: For 1777, John Kimball, Thomas Stickney,
Reuben Kimball, Benjamin Emery, and Richard Herbert ; for 1778,

Lie uten a n t
Joseph II all,
( 'aptain Josh-
ua Abbot,
John Kim-
ball, James
Walker, and
Lieutenant
John Chand-
ler; in 1779,
Lieutenant
John Chand-
ler, Colonel
T h o s . Stick-
nt'V, and Cap-
tain Aaron
Kins m a n .
-Tot en Ree-

Elm-Croft.

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION.

281

ords, 153, 16Jf, 172. Philip Eastman, of East Concord, was chairman
of the first committee, or that of 1776 — the members of which are
named in the text. The committee meetings were frequently held in
the southeast corner room on the first floor of the well-built, capacious
house erected by Mr. Eastman in 1755 ; a house, which — it may be
here added in passing — was to be occupied by his descendants in
direct line to the fourth generation, and to stand, in the possession
of Jonathan Eastman Pecker, in 1900, a finely preserved type of a
colonial mansion, bearing the name of " Elm-Croft."

Association Test of 1776. The following is a list of the subscribers
to the Association Test, the words of which are given in the text :

Reuben Kimball, Joseph Hall, Amos Abbot, jr.,

John Kimball, Richard Hazeltine, William Coffin,

Thomas Stickney, Joseph Hall, jr., Joseph Abbot,

Peter Green,
Tim y Walker, jr.,
Benjamin Emery,
John Bradley,
Nathan Chandler,
Aaron Stevens,
James Walker,
Robert Davis,
Benj. Hanniford,
Daniel Gale,
David Hall,
Simon Danforth,
Nathaniel Abbot,
Nathaniel Rolfe,
Stephen ( i reenleaf ,
Samuel Thompson,
John Gage,
Moses Eastman, jr..
Jacob Carter,
John Fowle,

ins

Levi x Ross,

mark

Jeremiah Bradley,
Peter Green, jr.,
Amos Abbot,
Timothy Bradley,
Ephraim Farnum,
Cornelius Johnson,
Philip Eastman,

Benjamin Fifield,
Reuben Abbott,
Lot Colby,
Jonathan Eastman,
Daniel Chase,
David George,
John Stevens,
John Virgin,
Phineas Stevens,
Jabez Abbot,
Benjamin Abbot,
Ebenezer Hall,
Henry Martin,
Timothy Simonds,
William Fifield,
Reuben Abbott, jr.,
Samuel Butters,

Jonathan Merrill,
James Mitchell,
Ezra Carter,
Asa Kimball,
Jonathan Emerson,
Timothy Bradley, jr.,
Joseph Eastman,
Phineas Virgin,
William Currier,
Ebenezer Simond,
Dan Stickney,
Josiah Farnum, jr.,
Elisha Moody,
Benjamin Eastman,
Jacob Green,
B en j a min Farn urn ,
Ebenezer Virgin,

Timo. Walker, [Rev.] Ephraim Potter,

Henry Beck,
Benjamin Rolfe,
Oliver Hoit,
Theodore Farnum,
Ebenezer Farnum,
Ephraim Farnum,
John Steven, (?)
Moses Eastman,
Chandler Lovejoy,
Samuel Kinkson,
Caleb Buswell,

Edward Abbott,
Jonathan Stickney,
Eph'm Farnum, jr.,
William Virgin,
( )badiah Hall,
George Abbot,
Josiah Farnum,
Joseph Farnum,
Stephen Kimball,
Daniel Hall,
Abner Flanders,

282

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Daniel Abbot,
Richard Flanders,
Joseph Farnum,
Isaac Abbot,
Ephraim Abbot,
Stephen Abbot,
George Abbot, jr.,
Stephen Farnum,
Daniel Farnum,
Daniel Chandler,
Philip Carigain,
Daniel Carter,
Joseph Clough,
Richard Herbert,
Gordon Hutchins,
James Haseltine,
William Haseltine,
Simon Trumbel,
John Chase,
John Shute,
Jacob Shute,

Richard Eastman,
Solomon Gage,
Ezekiel Dimond, jr.,

iiis

John X Trumble,

mark.

Joseph Colby,
Ephraim Fisk,
Nathaniel Green,
Thomas Wilson,
Isaac Walker,
Ezra Badger,
Richard Flanders,
Timothy Farnham,
Ezekiel Dimond,
Joseph Haseltine,
Phineas Kimball,
Robert Ambros,
Benjamin Sweat,
Abiel Blanchard,
Benjamin Elliot,

Nathan Abbot,
Jesse Abbot,
Joseph Eastman, jr.,
Richard Potter,
Timothy Symonds,
Philip Kimball,
Timothy Kimball,
John Farnum,
Ezekiel Carter,
Richard Hood,
Henry Lovejoy,
Lemuel Tucker,
Jacob Goodwin,
George Graham,
Jeremiah Wheeler,
Zephaniah Pettey,
Zebediah Farnum,
Samuel Goodwin,
Abner Farnum,
Thomas Eaton.

James Stevens,

Bennington. Of Colonel Thomas Stickney's regiment in General
Stark's brigade at Bennington, August, 1777, there were, from Con-
cord : Thomas Stickney, colonel ; Richard Herbert, lieutenant ; Jesse,
John, Elias, Ephraim, Ezra, and Stephen Abbot ; Timothy Johnson,
Benjamin Ambrose, Philbrick Bradley, Simeon Danforth, Reuben
Dimond, Benjamin Elliot, Theodore Farnum, Richard Flood, Abner
Flanders, Samuel Kinsman, John Peters, Ephraim Fisk, Ephraim
Fisk, Jr., David George, Solomon Gage, Israel Glines, Abial Hall,
Anthony Potter, Phinehas Stevens, William Simonds, Simon Trum-
ble, and Gilman West. Of those named above Philbrick Bradley
was wounded in the battle. John Abbot, uncle of the subsequent
mayor of Concord, received a ball on the breast-bone, which fell
harmless at his feet. He was the stoutest young man in Concord,
as well as one of the tallest, standing six feet seven inches without
shoes. Bouton's Concord, 629.

Saratoga. In Captain Joshua Abbot's company of volunteers that
marched to reinforce the Northern army at Saratoga, in September,
1777, were : Reuben Kimball, lieutenant ; James Mitchell, sergeant ;
Moses Abbot, sergeant ; Amos Abbot, corporal ; Jacob Carter, drum-
mer ; John Farnum ; Moses, Stilson, Jonathan, and Joseph Eastman ;
Ezekiel Dimond, Phinehas Virgin, Daniel Farnum, Chandler Love-
joy, Enoch Coffin, James Johnson, Reuben and Philip Abbot, Ezekiel

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 283

Stickney, Timothy Hall, John Peters, Michael Flanders, Isaac Di-
mond, John Sillaway, and Benjamin Rolfe.

Rhode Island Expedition, 1778. In Colonel Stickney's regiment,
raised for the defense of Rhode Island, were Peaslee Eastman, Jacob
and Josiah Flanders, and Josiah Chandler.

New Levies in 1780. These were in service six months. Of these
were : Joshua Graham, Thomas Carr, Daniel Stickney, Aaron and
Peaslee Eastman, John Peters, Jonas Wyman, Benjamin Thompson,
and Jonathan Moulton.

For Three Months' Service in 1780-81. In Captain Aaron Kins-
man's company of Colonel Stickney's regiment were enlisted the fol-
lowing persons : Elias Abbot, Gilman and Edward West, Reuben and
Joseph Blanchard, Ephraim Fisk, John Dow, Keyes and Benjamin
Bradley, Josiah Flanders, Ebenezer Gray, Elisha Virgin, William
Eastman. — In July, 1781, the following persons enlisted with no
special assignment recorded : Jeremiah Virgin, Jeremiah Chandler,
Moses Read, Phinehas Ayer, Joseph Blanchard, David Eastman,
Millen Kimball.

Ranger Service, 1782. In Captain Webster's company for defense
of the frontiers, were : Abner Flanders, sergeant ; Henry Eastman,
private. — In general conclusion to the preceding notes of the pres-
ent chapter, containing lists of Concord men, who, under various
assignments, served in the Revolution, may be added the names of
some whose times and places of service — with one exception — are
not known. They are : David Davis, fifer ; Simeon Locke, John
Thompson, Joshua Thompson (aid to Lafayette), Moses Chase, Eben-
ezer Foss, Samuel Walker, Thomas or Benjamin Powell, Salem Colby
(negro), Eliphalet Caswell, Nathan Shead, Thomas Pitts, Joseph
Hale, Ephraim Hoyt, Nathan Stevens, Timothy Abbot, David Blan-
chard, Jonathan Chase, Peter Manual, Benjamin Chase, Enoch Bad-
ger, and Moses Reed. Possibly some of these were not citizens, but
were only " hired " for Concord.

Dr. Carrigain. On the 13th of June, 1777, a special committee
of the house, appointed to consider what was the best to be done
with " John Maloney and Dr. Callighan, persons suspected to be
inimical to the liberties of this State," reported that " they be com-
mitted to the gaol in Exeter for safe-keeping." Journal of House,
State Papers, Vol. VIII, 585. There is no further record. " Dr.
Callighan " probably meant Dr. Carrigain ; and it is reasonable to
suppose that the good Concord doctor was not held long in durance
vile.

" Merchant Stevens.'''' John Stevens was an Englishman by birth,
and a gentleman of good education. He came to Concord from

284 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Charlestown, Mass., and went into trade with Colonel McMillan, in
the store on the northwest corner of Main and Pleasant streets. He
built an addition, and fitted the upper story into a hall which was
variously used, and, occasionally, as a place of meeting for the house
of representatives. He bought for his wife the house built by
Stephen Farrington, and situated near what was afterwards to be the
northwest corner of State and Pleasant streets (in 1900-'01 the site
of the Wonolancet Club House). His purchase included the adja-
cent field. — How the merchant was arrested and imprisoned for
alleged Toryism is told in the text ; also that he never forgave the
town for prosecuting him on what he declared was a false charge.
He died on the 25th of December, 1792, in the forty-fifth year of his
age. " Some time before he died," says Dr. Bouton, " he said to his
wife, — ' Wife, I am a justice of the peace, and I wish you to make
oath, before me, that when I am dead, you will see that I am buried
between those two apple-trees [pointing them out] ; that no citizen of
Concord shall follow me to the grave ; no minister be present ; that you
will pay one crown apiece the four men who bear out my body and
bury it.' His wife demurred to taking the oath, but promised to do
as he wished. He was buried accordingly. His bearers were Zenas

Wheeler, Job Page, Daniel Page, and . Several years

afterwards, when the house owned by Col. William Kent was moved
on to the spot [just west of the Farrington house] , the bones of Stevens
were dug up, put in a box, and re-interred in the back part of the
same lot, where they remain unknown to this day."

Maximum Prices. The following were some of the maximum
prices established in 1777, " to prevent monopoly and oppression," as
mentioned in the text. Wheat could " not exceed the price of seven
shillings per bushel ; " rye, five ; Indian corn, four ; oats, two shill-
ings and sixpence ; potatoes, in the fall of the year, one shilling and
fourpence — at any other season, two shillings ; butter, ninepence, per
pound ; cheese, sixpence ; salt pork, ninepence — fresh, fourpence
three farthings ; veal, threepence ; beef, grass-fed, threepence — stall-
fed, fourpence ; grass-fed mutton, fourpence ; oak wood on the town
street, eight shillings a cord ; men's neat leather shoes, nine shillings
a pair ; women's, seven shillings and threepence ; flip and toddy
made of New England rum, one shilling per mug or bowl ; victuals
at the tavern, one shilling per meal; cider, at the press, eight shill-
ings per barrel — other seasons of the year, in proportion — and three-
pence per mug ; flax, one shilling per pound ; wool, two shillings and
sixpence ; yarn stockings, seven shillings a pair ; English hay, of best
quality, six dollars per load in the field ; farming labor in the best
season, three shillings and sixpence a day — at other seasons, in pro-

EVENTS OF THE REVOLUTION. 285

portion ; shoeing a yoke of oxen, four shillings ; a horse, steel-corked,
seven shillings — in other ways, in proportion ; plow irons, one shill-
ing per pound ; hoes, six shillings apiece ; chains and yoke irons, one
shilling and threepence per pound ; carpenter's labor, four shillings
per day ; joiner's, three shillings and sixpence ; tailor's, three shill-
ings — the making of a full suit of woolen clothes, one pound four
shillings ; woman's common labor, two shillings and sixpence per
week ; wool hats, nine shillings apiece ; mason's labor, four shillings
and sixpence ; men's half boots of the best sort, thirteen shillings and
sixpence per pair ; tow cloth a yard wide, two shillings and sixpence
per yard — other widths, in proportion ; the best of all-wool cloth,
dressed fit for men's wear, three-quarters wide, nine shillings per
yard.

Judge Walker's Store. This historic building was afterwards re-
moved to the west side of Main street, upon a site not far from the
junction of Main and Penacook streets, where it has stood, occupied
as a dwelling, to the present time (1900).

Recorded Assignment of Pews. In March, 1784, the parish raised
a committee consisting of Captain Reuben Kimball, Colonel Timothy
Walker, Lieutenant John Bradley, John Kimball, and James Walker,
" to vendue the pews, and finish the meeting-house " ; with instruc-
tion " to proceed to finish the outside of the same the ensuing sum-
mer."— Town Records, 216-17. On the 21st of March, 1786, the
town clerk was " directed to record the pews in the meeting-house to
those persons who " had "purchased and paid for the same." — Town
Records, 226. The following is the record of pews, with their re-
spective numbers prefixed to the names of the persons entitled
thereto, as, in substance, set down in Town Records, 229-30 :

On Floor. No. 1. Reserved for use of minister; 2. Col. Timothy
Walker ; 3. Timothy and Philbrick Bradley ; 4. Nathan and Jesse
Abbot ; 5. Stephen Farnum ; 6. Lieut. Joseph Haseltine ; 7. Lieut.
Benjamin Farnum ; 8. Capt. Richard Ayer ; 9. Lieut. Timothy Dix ;
10. Thomas Wilson; 11. Ensign Ephraim Colby; 12. Abel Harris;
13. Major William Duncan ; 14. Capt. Benjamin Emery ; 15. Will-
iam Coffin; 16. Dr. Peter Green; 17. Benjamin Hannaford ; 18.
John Blanchard ; 19. John Souther; 20. Ensign John Odlin ; 21.
Abel Harris ; 22. Stephen Kimball ; 23. Isaac Abbot ; 24. Lieut.
Richard Herbert ; 25. Ebenezer H. (loss and Nathaniel Rolfe, Jr. ;
26. Col. Thomas Stickney ; 27. Lieut. Robert Davis ; 28. David
Hall; 29. James Walker; 30. Capt. Reuben Kimball; 31. Lieut.
Joseph Farnum ; 32. Ezra Carter; 33. Ebenezer Dustin ; 34. Rich-
ard Haseltme ; 35. Col. Peter Green ; 36. Lieut. John Bradley ; 37.
Ebenezer Hall ; 38. Benjamin Rolfe and Ephraim Farnum ; 39. En-

286 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

sign John Shute ; 40. Vacant ; 41. Vacant ; 42. Capt. Joshua
Abbot ; 43. Col. Aaron Kinsman ; 44. Robert and Jonathan East-
man ; 45. Josiah Farnum, Jr. and Daniel Farniim ; 46. John Kim-
ball ; 47. Lieut. Joseph Hall.

In Gallery. No. 1. David Carter; 2. Beriah Abbot; 3. Benja-
min Davis ; 4. Benjamin Elliot and Sarah Farnum ; 5. Benjamin
Kimball; 6. John Walker; 7. Richard Herbert, Jr.; 8. Richard
Ayer ; 9. Vacant; 10. Isaac Hustone ; 11. Vacant; 12. Daniel
Chase, Jr. ; 13. Jonathan Runnals ; 14. Benjamin Kimball ; 15. Va-
cant ; 16. Caleb Buswell ; 17. Isaac Dimond ; 18. Capt. Reuben
Kimball; 19. John West; 20. Lieut. Joshua Thompson ; 21. Daniel
Abbot; 22. Vacant; 23. Jeremiah Stickney ; 24. James Walker;
25. Anthony Potter ; 26. Vacant.

Funeral Expenses. The charges of the Rev. Timothy AValker's
funeral, as defrayed by the parish, were as follows: Eight rings, X4
16s.; two gallons wine, XI 4s.; a coffin, 9s. ; biers, Is. 6d. ; a horse
to Sanborn ton, 3s. ; do to Gilmanton, 3s. ; do to Warner, 2s. 3d. ;
digging grave, 2s.; provisions, XI 2s. 3d. ; gravestones, X4 4s. Total,
X12 7s.

CHAPTER IX.

The Town of Concord. — Post-Revolutionary Events. — Con-
stitution of the United States. — Revised State Con-
stitution. — Town Affairs and Progress.

1784-1800.

As the new constitution was to go into full effect on the second clay
of June, 1781, a president of the state, senators, and members of the
house of representatives were elected by the people in March. In
Concord, Timothy Walker, who had been the first and the last to
serve the parish as representative under the old constitution, was
elected as the first to serve the town in the same capacity under the
new. Of the ninety-eight votes cast for president, fifty-six were for
Woodbury Langdon, and forty-two for Josiah Bartlett. 1 But neither
of these candidates was chosen to the chief magistracy, the venerable
Meshech Weare being the choice of a large majority in the state. Only
seven of the twelve senators having been elected by the people, the
legislature made choice of Timothy Walker as one of the remaining
five, and Peter Green 2 was chosen by the town to succeed him in the
lower house.

The members elect of the two branches of the legislature convened
at Concord on the first Wednesday of June. Their oaths of office
were taken and subscribed before Josiah Bartlett, senior member of
the old council, acting for President Weare of that body, 3 detained by
illness incident to the burden of years and the weight of public
cares long borne. Thursday, the 3d of June, was the day on which
popular interest in the inauguration of the government under the
new constitution was especially manifested. " The occasion/' it has
been written, " was of great interest and importance, and attended
with imposing ceremonies. A procession was formed, composed of
members of the legislature, and civil authorities of the state, together
with other persons of office and dignity ; also, of ministers of the
gospel of various denominations, and a large body of citizens, who
marched at the sound of music to the meeting-house. The Reverend
Samuel McClintock, of Greenland, preached on the occasion, and a
public dinner was given at the expense of the State." 4

This " Election Day " was typical of a holiday, which was, with

1 Town Records, 216-17. 'Journals of House and Senate, 1784.

2 Ibid, 219. * Bouton's Concord, 288.

288 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

changes, to celebrate for many a year the June organization of the
legislative department of the state government, and especially the
official induction of the chief executive. It was peculiarly a Concord
day, and one anticipated with much preparation for fitly receiving
the official guests, as well as throngs of visitants sure to be in town
to witness and enjoy the enlivening holiday observance. Special
interest in the day extended into all the country round about the
capital, and "going to 'lection," in the popular abbreviation, was a
favorite recreative feature of the people's life.

But the town was, and for some years would be, without a settled
minister of the gospel. In October, 1782, a few weeks after the
death of Mr. Walker, a committee of three was appointed " to supply
the pulpit." 1 In March, 1783, two were added to the committee.
Later in the same year, certain arrearages of the late minister's sal-
ary were " discharged " by leasing to his son Timothy, " for the term
of nine hundred ninety-nine years, three acres of bog-meadow which "
had been " laid out to the parsonage right for emendation." This
question of salary arrearage had often been before the parish meet-
ings, and ineffectual attempts had been made to effect a settlement.
In March, 1782, "all former committees, chosen to settle with the
Rev. Timothy Walker," were dismissed, and one was appointed " to
request " him " to sue those persons who " were " delinquent in pay-
ing his salary from the year 1749 to the year 1765." 2 The singular
request was not complied with, and the town finally adjusted the
matter by a lease of a portion of its parsonage land, as just
mentioned. Another committee was selected, in March, 1785, for
supplying the pulpit, and "one half the money raised to defray
the expenses of the town " was appropriated to that purpose. 3
The services of Mr. Daniel Story were temporarily employed ;
but it is said that his Arminianism did not quite suit the ortho-
dox views of his hearers. At any rate, in June, the committee
was enlarged, and instructed to " procure a candidate on pro-
bation the first opportunity." 4 At length, Mr. Jonathan Wil-
kins, a native of Marlborough, Massachusetts, and a graduate
of Dartmouth college, in 1779, was engaged to preach as a candi-
date; and on the 17th of December, 1786, he received from the
church a unanimous call to settle. The next day the call was
seconded by the town, with the offer of a salary of one hundred
pounds, the use of the parsonage, and two hundred pounds " towards
a settlement." But Mr. Wilkins declined the invitation, " in con-
formity," — as he said in his answer, — " to what appears duty and
interest, which are inseparably connected." Though declining the

'Town Records, 207. 3/6i'd,221.

2 Ibid, 202. * Ibid, 222-3.

FINANCIAL STRESS. 289

pastorate on what he deemed an inadequate salary, he became a
permanent resident of Concord, useful and prominent in its church
and civil affairs. 1

Nearly three years later, on the first day of September, 1788,—
just six years after the death of Mr. Walker, — Israel Evans, a native
of Pennsylvania, a graduate of Princeton, and an army chaplain dur-
ing the Revolution, who had been preaching in Concord, as a candi-
date, received the call of church and town "to settle in the work of
the ministry,"' 2 with an annual salary of ninety pounds, the use of
the parsonage, and " two hundred pounds — in materials for building
a house — as a settlement." 2 This vote was modified at an adjourned
meeting in October, so as to make the salary fifteen dollars more
"in lieu of the settlement." 2 Mr. Evans did not "approve of every-
thing in the call," 3 and did not accept until the 17th of March, 1789, 3
and was regularly installed on the first Wednesday of July, of that
year. 4

In those days, financial stress, more or less severe, was felt
throughout the country. During the last years of the Revolution,
silver and gold had circulated largely, but had gradually, since peace,
been returned to the countries from which necessary and unnecessary
commodities 5 were imported ; while no general system of impost 5
had been adopted, whereby some part of this money might have been
retained. 5 This scarcity of money was a grievance which legislation,
in New Hampshire or elsewhere, failed to remedy; and which also
bred a morbid desire for inordinate issues of paper currency. In
some localities, even in conservative New Hampshire, this desire
manifested itself not only in misguided urgency as to its specific
object, but also in clamorous opposition to laws obliging the payment
of debts, and to courts and lawyers, as instrumental in enforcing
those laws. The unhealthy sentiment ran into a high fever of
excitement in 1786. It was determined to bring direct pressure
upon the legislature. Thus, it was planned as an impressive stroke
of policy, to hold a paper-money convention at Concord, during the
early days of the June legislative session ; it being hoped that the
personal presence of the convention might materially help to ensure
for its petition the favor of the legislature. But a practical joke
upset the fond hope. For when, at the commencement of the legis-
lative session, only five delegates to the proposed convention were in
town, sixteen members of the house, of a waggish turn, among
whom were several young lawyers, bethought themselves to pretend
that they, too, had been chosen as delegates from their towns. They

1 Bouton's Concord, 291-5; also, see note at close of chapter. i Ibid, 253-4.

2 Town Records, 243-4. 5 Belknap, 395.
* Ibid, 251.

290 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

succeeded in persuading the five to go into convention with them at
once ; urging that it was of the utmost importance to present a peti-
tion to the legislature as early as possible. Thereupon, a convention
of the real and pretended delegates was organized, with one of the
former for president, and one of the latter for clerk. The proceed-
ings and debates were conducted with much apparent solemnity. 1
A petition was framed, complaining, in most extravagant terms, of
their grievances, and praying for a loan of three millions of dollars,
secured by real estate — the paper thus issued to be legal tender for
all debts ; also praying for the abolition of inferior courts, and for a
reduction of the number of lawyers to two only in a county. 1 The
members of the convention then marched in procession to the house
of representatives, — some of whom, including the speaker, had been
let into the secret, — and, with great formality, presented their peti-
tion, which was suffered to lie on the table, and afterwards to be
withdrawn. 1 The convention quickly dissolved ; and when other
real delegates arrived they were exceedingly mortified on finding
their purpose, for that time, thwarted.

But the cause of fiat money, though having the laugh against it,
continued to find more or less support in various quarters. County
conventions were held, from two of which, and also from several
towns, petitions were presented to the legislature at its September
session held in Exeter. " To still the clamor," says Belknap, 2 " and
collect the real sense of the people on the subject of paper currency,
the assembly formed a plan for the emission of fifty thousand pounds,
to be let at four per cent, on land security, to be a tender in payment
of state taxes, and for the fees and salaries of public officers. This
plan**- —adopted on the 14th of September — " was immediately
printed, and sent to the several towns ; and the people were desired
to give their opinions in town-meetings for and against it, and to
make return of their votes to the assembly at the next session." This
way of proceeding did not coincide with the radical views of the
party, and an attempt was made to coerce the legislature by mob
violence. This, however, signally failed.

The financial craze, with its violent craving for impracticable
measures of relief, soon after subsided. This result was forwarded
by the refusal of the people to consent to the plan for emitting a
paper currency, submitted by the general court in September, a few
days before the riot at Exeter. The sense of the citizens of Concord
upon the subject was emphatically expressed in town-meeting on the
30th of October, 178(3, when it was voted "not to make paper money
on any plan whatever." 3

Belknap, 399; also, see Life of William Plumer.

2 History of New Hampshire, 400.

'Town Records, 228; also, see note at close of chapter.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 291

The financial troubles in the land, fraught with peril even to the
stability of state governments, helped to hasten the popular convic-
tion that the thirteen articles of confederation, adopted in 1778,
afforded an utterly inadequate fundamental law for the thirteen
independent states. A new constitution was felt to be requisite for
securing, among other advantages, public and private credit as one
of the blessings of liberty, by delegating to the congress of the Union
certain exclusive rights, such as to coin money and emit bills of
credit. Hence, in 1787, was framed the Constitution of the United
States. With giant conflict of opinion, and with much of concession
and compromise, the great instrument of Union had been adopted by
the convention of delegates from the United States of America, over
whose deliberations George Washington presided. Now it had to
pass the ordeal of the conventions of the several states, the approval
of nine of which was requisite to give it effect. ( hi the 14th of
December the general court passed a resolution calling upon the
people of New Hampshire to choose delegates to meet in convention
at Exeter, on the 13th of February, 1788, "to take under considera-
tion the proceedings of the late Federal Convention, and investigate,
discuss, and decide upon the same." 1 Concord chose Captain Ben-
jamin Emery " to sit in convention at Exeter." 2

This convention, having met at the time and place appointed and
having selected General John Sullivan, at that time chief magistrate
of the state, for its president, occupied ten days in discussing the
proposed constitution. There were two parties, the one for adoption
being led upon the floor by Samuel Livermore of Holderness ; the one
against, by Joshua Atherton of Amherst — both men of distinguished
ability and much personal influence. The opposition manifested such
strength that the friends of ratification deemed it fortunate that an
adjournment till June was effected, the convention then to meet at
Concord. Here, accordingly, it met in second session on the 18th of
June. "The convention," as it is recorded by another, vt excited an
interest with which the proceedings of no other deliberative body in
this State have ever been regarded. The galleries of the church
where it assembled were thronged with spectators, and its members
were surrounded, not only by large numbers of their own constitu-
ents, but by individuals from distant states, engaged, some of them,
in watching their deliberations, and some of them, no doubt, in efforts
to influence the result." 3 The session continued three days. Fif-
teen amendments were recommended on the report of a commit-
tee of fifteen, of which John Langdon, recently elected president
of the state, was chairman. An attempt to ratify, with the pro-

1 Town Records, 238. 3 Barstow's New Hampshire, 279-80,

2 Ibid, 239.

292 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

viso that the constitution should not be operative in New Hamp-
shire without the amendments, was defeated ; and on the afternoon
of the 21st of June, 1788, the constitution, as it came from the
"Convention of Delegates from the United States of America, held
at Philadelphia, on the seventeenth of September, 1787," was adopted
by a vote of fifty-seven to forty-seven. Captain Benjamin Emery,
the Concord delegate, voted in the negative ; but this action found,
according to tradition, its offset in that of Judge Walker, a strong
friend of ratification, who, anticipating a close vote, invited to dinner
one or more delegates of the opposite opinion, and by prolonging his
liberal entertainment beyond the hour of voting, helped to lessen the
negative strength. 1 Indeed, a great historic act had been done in the
old North church at Concord ; for, as announced in the triumphant
voice of Sullivan from the chair, amid acclaims of joy from floor and
gallery, New Hampshire had felicitously won the fadeless honor of
being the ninth state to ratify the constitution, and thus to give it
practical effect as the sure bond of " more perfect union," and the
life of the nation's future government. The news from Concord,
speeding over the country, by courier and other means, relieved the
anxious hearts of Washington, Hamilton, Madison, and their like,
and was welcomed by the people with the heartiest demonstrations of

i°y- 2

During these, as well as previous and subsequent events, there
existed, as evidenced by the town records, considerable educational
interest in the public mind. Thus, in 1779, in the very stress of the
Revolution, the expense of hiring a schoolmaster was allowed with
other accounts for "the year past." 3 When no special appropriation
was made, sometimes, as in 1781, certain lands belonging to the
school right were ordered to be " leased out " ; 4 while, the same
year, it was suggested, in the warrant for a special meeting, that "the
parish excuse those persons who have kept constant schools in Con-
cord from paying taxes the current year." 5 In March, 1785, it was
voted " that a public school be kept in Concord the ensuing year." 6
Probably this school was wholly or partially supported from the gen-
eral appropriation made " to defray the expenses of the town." 7 The
next year forty pounds were specially appropriated for " a town
school" 8 and, in 1789, the same amount was voted, "to be divided
into several parts or districts, as usual." 9 From this time the annual
appropriation was steadily increased, at short intervals, and within
thirty years reached twelve hundred dollars, and the sum raised for

1 Bouton's Concord, 303.

2 See Centennial Observance of Batitication Day, 1888, in note at close of chapter.

3 Town Records, 175.

* Ibid, 190. i; Ibid, 220. 8 Ibid, 224.

<* Ibid, 195-6. ■ Ibid, 221. ° Ibid, 250.

THE SCHOOL — POLITICAL FACTS. 293

the support of the school rose from less than two thirds of that raised
for the supply of the pulpit to more than twice as much.

The "house lot belonging to the school-right," located on the south
side of the road running westerly by the Bradley estate, was, in 1 790,
exchanged for an acre and four fifths of land owned by Lieutenant
Robert Davis, and situated southerly of the burying-ground and
adjoining it. 1 During the same year a schoolhouse was located on
Main street, at a short distance easterly of the church. This was
effected by the vote " that the pest-house be moved into the town
street near the meeting-house for the use of a schoolhouse.' 1 The
structure thus utilized had been erected in July, 1775, at an expense
of forty pounds, when pestilence had suddenly entered the parish,
amid the alarms of war. For the smallpox had been contracted by
Dr. Philip Carrigain, on professional service in a neighboring town,
and by him communicated to John, the son of Nathaniel West, a
neighbor. 2 It was on Saturday that the discovery of the real nature
of the disease was made, creating intense alarm in the community.
On Sabbath morning "the inhabitants assembled en masse and com-
menced the erection of a pest-house in a grove west of the residence
of Captain Benjamin Emery," 2 and before night " the timber for a
convenient " structure, " to consist of four rooms, had been felled,
hewed, framed, and raised," and "the boards for covering and the
brick for the chimney " had been " drawn to the ground." 3 To this
house forthwith finished, the West family was removed, six or seven
of the members of which were attacked, but all of whom recovered
save the father. The doctor and his family of five remained in their
own house, which was fenced off from all communication, and where
inoculation was tried, and no death occurred. It was certainly
a singular frugality of the citizens of Concord which has thus asso-
ciated the story of a pest-house with that of a schoolhouse in a nar-
rative of educational progress.

It is interesting to note the variety of personal preference ex-
pressed by the voters of Concord at the first election of presidential
electors under the new Constitution of the United States, held on
the 15th of December, 1788. All were Federalists in that they were
in favor of George Washington for president, but they were of many
minds as to the men who should directly express the people's choice
in the electoral college. Hence, their two hundred and ninety-one 4
votes were distributed among twenty-three candidates, though but
five electors were to be chosen. There was no choice by the people
of the state ; but of the candidates subsequently elected by the
legislature, two, Ebenezer Thompson and John Parker, received not

i Town Records, 259-60. s Bouton's Concord, 282.

2 See note at close of chapter. * Town Records, 246.

294 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

a vote in Concord ; of three, John Pickering received forty-five — the
highest number cast for any one — John Sullivan, forty-one, and Ben-
jamin Bellows, two. Votes were given for three citizens of Concord;
ten for Timothy Walker, five for Peter Green, and one for John
Bradley. 1

A somewhat similar division occurred in voting for electors at
Washington's second election in 1792. It may be permissible to
add here, that, at four successive elections for the presidency of the
state, previous to the adoption of the national constitution, John
Langdon had been Concord's favorite candidate ; having in 1785
received one hundred and five of one hundred and thirteen votes
cast. During the next three years, when Langdon and Sullivan
were rival candidates, Concord steadily gave heavy majorities for the
former ; though, in two of them, the latter won the presidency.
But while both of those excellent, patriotic men had their earnest
personal following, no essential political differences then existed to
make clearly defined political parties.

The establishment of Printing in Concord has, for its date, the
first year of the federal government under the administration of
Washington. George Hough, a native of Connecticut, where he
learned the printer's trade, and whence he had removed to Windsor,
Vermont, and had there engaged for some time in publishing a
newspaper, came to Concord, and, on the 8th of September, 1789,
set up his printing-press in a small building situated on the west
side of Main street, upon ground afterwards to be included in the
front part of the state house yard. 2 There he did the first printing
done in New Hampshire north of Exeter ; issuing, in October, Dodds-
ley's Christian Economy. On the 6th of January was given to the
public the first number of the first newspaper published in Concord,
entitled The Concord Herald mid New Hampshire Intelligencer — a
small weekly of four pages, each fourteen inches by nine, 8 but bear-
ing " marks of the care and correct taste of Mr. Hough, who became
known throughout the state as a workman that ' needed not to be
ashamed.' " 4 The publication of this paper was continued some-
what more than fifteen years — or until October, 1805 — but not with-
out a change of name ; the title becoming, in 1794, the Courier of
New Hampshire. The place of issuance had earlier been changed to
the " Kinsman house," some rods south of the site of the subsequent
" Eagle Coffee House," or the later " Eagle Hotel."

On the 29th of October, 1792, Elijah Russell began the publica-

'Town Records, 246.

2 John Farmer's Letter; Proceedings of N. H. Press Association, January, 1882, 1883, p. 31.

3 Bouton's Concord, 310.

4 Asa McFarland in paper read before N. H. Printers' Association, January, 1873; Pro-
ceedings, p. 34.

PRINTING AND NEWSPAPERS. 295

tion of the Mirrour, printed on a sheet of fourteen inches by eight,
and issued from an office near Hannaford's tavern at the North End.
The terms of subscription as announced were : " Five shillings per
annum ; one shilling only to be paid yearly in money, on receiving
the first paper of every year, and the remainder, in country produce,
at the market cash price, any time in the course of the year. Of
those who cannot pay one shilling in cash, produce will be received
for the whole, at the end of the year." These terms of subscription,
taken as a specimen of those exacted in the earliest period of Con-
cord journalism, though vastly easier for subscribers than publishers,
did not secure large or promptly paying lists of the former ; for the
newspaper appetite was yet but imperfectly formed in the mass of
population, and expenditure for its gratification was scantily and
tardily made. Hence, one finds John Lathrop, a post-rider, who
carried the papers on his northerly route from Concord, urging, in
the fall of 1791, subscribers "to pay up" by the beginning of next
year, and persuasively suggesting that though he was ever willing to
gratify his customers with a reasonable pay day, yet that, when " the
earth yields her increase in abundance," it seemed to him a " happy
presage " of punctuality among those who had " kindly become his
debtors." "Cash, wheat, rye, or flax will be received," adds the
post-rider ; and, " for the convenience of every one," he appoints
"places at which the pay may be delivered." Delmcpviency still
withstanding his accommodating offers, he puts forth the suggestive
warning : " Delays are dangerous. Money, we all know, is always
scarce. But when a grain debt is not paid in the season of it, the
creditor says money. That will be disagreeable to the debtor ; and
the post, while produce is plenty, puts off the harsh expression."

The Mirrour existed till 1799; its conductor publishing mean-
while, for six months of the year 1797, a literary and miscellaneous
weekly, called The Star, and printed " in a small octavo of sixteen
pages." After the discontinuance of the Mirrour and The Star, Mr.
Russell, in 1801, commenced the publication of the Republican
Gazette, as the organ of the political party supporting the adminis-
tration of Jefferson. This paper lived two years, or until 1803 ;
Hough's Courier, till 1805.

When the first printing press was set up in Concord, and the first
newspaper form worked off upon it, the population of the town, ac-
cording to the first census of the United States, taken in 1790, was
seventeen hundred and forty-seven— showing an increase of seven
hundred twenty-five in fifteen years. A rudimentary postal system
existed, under which inter-communication was somewhat expedited.
Concord was a point whence and whither " post-riders " on horseback

296 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

passed through the country on various lines, carrying letters, news-
papers, and packages of light transmission. Samuel Bean rode once
a week from Boston to Concord and back, on a route lying through
Andover, Haverhill, Atkinson, Kingston, Exeter, Epping, Notting-
ham, Deerfield, and Pembroke, and on return through Londonderry. 1
About the same time and somewhat later, John Lathrop — already
spoken of — also rode post from Concord through Boscawen and
intermediate towns to Hanover, and thence up along the Connecticut
river to Haverhill, returning by way of Plymouth and New-Chester,
otherwise Hill. 1 Lathrop, if not Bean, may have been a post-rider
under the law passed by the state legislature of 1791, establishing
"four routes for posts to be thereafter appointed to ride in and
through the interior of the State." 2 Two of these routes proceeded
from Concord, passing through the principal towns westward to
Keene, and northward to Haverhill. 3 Under this state law one per-
son was appointed in each of the towns of Portsmouth, Dover, Exe-
ter, Concord, Amherst, Keene, Charlestown, Hanover, Haverhill, and
Plymouth, " to take charge of all matters conveyed by the posts " ; 4
receiving as compensation twopence, advanced on the postage of
every private letter or package passing through the respective offices. 4
" The postage, which on single letters was sixpence for every forty
miles, and fourpence for any number of miles under forty, was
granted exclusively to the post-riders."* 5 New Hampshire assumed
this temporary authority in postal matters for the reason, it seems,
that the post-office department of the general government was not
yet in complete working order; though there had been a postmaster-
general since 1789 in the person of Samuel Osgood, and that of his
successor, Timothy Pickering. Probably, George Hough was ap-
pointed under the state law to take charge, in Concord, of what was
conveyed by the posts. Certainly, in June, 1792, — the last year of
Washington's first presidential term, — he received appointment as
the regular postmaster of the town, with commission signed by
Timothy Pickering, second postmaster-general of the United States.
The first location of the post-office thus established was doubtless in
the building before mentioned, where Mr. Hough was printing Con-
cord's first newspaper.

Seven months after the issue of the first newspaper in Concord,
another step of judicious progress was taken in proceeding to the
erection of a public building to answer, primarily, the purpose of a-
state house, and secondarily, that of a town house. The New Hamp-
shire legislature was then a migratory bod} r , yet there were encour-

1 Bouton's Concord, 310. 4 Ibid, 311.

s Barstow's New Hampshire, 2S9. c Barstow's New Hampshire, 290.

3 Bouton's Concord, 310. ° Bouton's Concord, 588.

STATE AND TOWN HOUSE.

29'

aging indications that Concord would ultimately become the perma-
nent place of session and the capital of the state. Hence, the town
resolved to take action, and, accordingly, on the 30th of August, 1790,
voted " one hundred pounds for building a house for the accommoda-
tion of the General Court." 1 For the encouragement of this under-
taking, fourteen prominent citizens 2 had subscribed five hundred and
fifty-five dollars, " in labor and materials." The building was ordered
to be "set on land 3 of Mr. William Stickney, near Deacon David
Hall's." This land was given by the owner on condition that if the
town should neglect or refuse to keep a public building on it for three
years it should revert to him or his heirs. 4 With Captain Reuben
Kimball as building agent, a house was forthwith erected upon a
sloping elevation, westward of the main street, and nearer to it than
later structures that took its place. It was one-storied, eighty feet
long, forty feet wide, and of fifteen-feet post. Its eastern front run-
ning lengthwise of the street, had its
door without porch in the center, flanked
on either side by three large windows,
and opening inside upon "a spacious
entry." ( )n the north side of this pas-
sage was finished a room for the house
of representatives ; on the south side,
one for the senate. These rooms not
occupying the entire width of the build-
ing, space was left along the rear or
westerly side for small committee rooms.
To complete the inside arrangement, a
stairway led from the entry to a small
gallery overlooking the two legislative rooms. Outside, from the cen-
ter of the roof rose a low cupola, surmounted by a vane ; both being
the handiwork of Ephraim Potter, the sailor, as well as the versatile
mechanic, who had already made of wood some of the first clocks used
in Concord, and had exercised his ingenuity upon the belfry and spire
of the " Old North Church " at the time of its renovation.

The town-meeting, which, on the 30th of August, 5 had ordered the
erection of the building, was the last ever held in the meeting-house ;
for on the 13th of the following December, 6 the next meeting con-
vened in the " Town House,"- —as the yet unfinished structure was

1 Town Records, 262.

2 See list In note at close of chapter; also, Bouton's Concord, 305-6.

3 Part of the lot where later was to stand the building known as the City Hall and Court
House.

4 Bouton's Concord, 306.

5 Town Records, 261-2.
c Ibid, 262.

_.J$L*&**?*-

^?ZfrH&.\.

Old Town House, I 790.

298 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

called, — being the first of the long line of Concord town-meetings
which were to be held there for more than sixty years. There, too,
the state legislature, migratory till 1808, — permanent afterwards, —
was to find convenient quarters, to be exchanged in 1819 for a more
commodious capitol. Though early so far completed as to answer
the purposes of erection, the town house was not "finished" till 1796,
upon an additional appropriation of sixty pounds. 1

On the 7th of September, 1791, commenced the sessions of a con-
vention for revising the state constitution. These were held in the
meeting-house where, seven years before, that constitution had been
adopted ; and where, too, three years ago, the constitution of the
United States had, by ratification, been made the fundamental law of
the American Union. To this convention the people had chosen
many of their ablest men ; one of whom was Timothy Walker, of
Concord. The work of the convention, which required four sessions,
—the longest continuing sixteen days, — was completed on the 6th of
September, 1792, when it was ascertained that, upon a second ap-
peal to the people, the amended constitution had been approved.
The work as completed proved so satisfactory to the people that for
nearly sixty years they allowed no attempt to amend. 2 The amended
constitution went into full operation in June, 1793, when the legisla-
ture elected under it met in Concord, and Josiah Bartlett, President
of the state for the two preceding years, was inducted into the chief
magistracy as Governor, being the first to wear that title in New
Hampshire since the days of the Province.

Hitherto, the Merrimack within the limits of Concord could be
crossed by ferries only. In 1795 some of the public-spirited citizens
of the thriving town bestirred themselves to substitute bridges. In
January the legislature, in answer to a petition, granted to Peter
Green and others the exclusive right to build and support a bridge
between Butters's — formerly Merrill's — ferry and Concord south line,
and prescribed the tolls for reimbursing the proprietors for expense
incurred in building and supporting the bridge. Its stock was
divided into a hundred shares, and was largely taken by residents of
Concord. 3 On the 9th of March, 1795, Paul Rolfe— son of Colonel
Benjamin Rolfe — was chosen clerk of the proprietors, and Captain
Reuben Kimball, Major Enoch Gerrish, and Captain David Kimball
were selected as " directors or overseers." This bridge, named " The
Concord," was erected on the site always thus to be occupied by
itself and similar structures, and, for nearly a hundred years, to bear

1 Town Records, 296.

2 How Concord voted upon the amendments does not clearly appear from the Town
Records, pp. 272, 274.

'Bouton's Concord, 326.

BRIDGES AND TURNPIKES. 299

the same name. 1 It was completed on the 29th of October, 1795, at
an actual cost of thirteen thousand dollars, upon an estimate of ten
thousand. 2 On that day it was opened for public use, with consid-
erable display of popular interest. A procession, headed by Major
William Duncan, assisted by Captain David Davis, " with music and
a guard of four men," 2 passed over the bridge in the following order,
as set forth in the records of the proprietors: (1) The building
committee ; (2) The treasurer and clerk ; (3) The Rev. Israel
Evans, with Mr. Wood and Mr. Parker, ministers of Boscawen and
Canterbury ; (4) The proprietors ; (5) The workmen, with the
master workman at their head ; (6) The spectators in regular order.
The proprietors' dinner was served at William Stickney's tavern near
the town house. Thus, " in conviviality and mirth, 1 ' as the ancient
record has it, was spent the opening day of the first bridge to span
the Merrimack in the town of Concord, and near the site of the first
regularly established ferry in the plantation of Penacook.

On the 28th of December, 1795, two months after the completion of
Concord bridge, another legislative act incorporated Timothy Walker,
Benjamin Emery, William Partridge, Jonathan Eastman, Joshua
Thompson, and others, their associates, to be known as the " Pro-
prietors of Federal Bridge," for the purpose " of building a bridge
over the river Merrimack, at or near a place called Tucker's Ferry in
Concord." This ferry had formerly been called " Eastman's," for
Captain Ebenezer Eastman, its first proprietor. It was on the prin-
cipal thoroughfare between " the Fort," or East Concord, and " the
Street," or main settlement. The charter required the completion of
the bridge within three years, and the payment of four hundred and
fifty dollars to the proprietor of Tucker's ferry. At the first meet-
ing of the corporation, held at the inn of Ebenezer Eastman, in East
Concord, on the 18th of January, 1796, Captain Benjamin Emery
was chosen moderator, and Stephen Ambrose clerk. The stock, as
in the case of the other bridge, was divided into one hundred shares,
and mostly subscribed for by citizens of the town. 3 All the requisi-
tions of the charter having been duly complied with, the bridge was
opened for use at a location somewhat above, or westward of, that of
succeeding structures bearing its name.

This bridge building in Concord was closely connected with the
inception of the turnpike system in New Hampshire. The legisla-
ture on the 16th of June, 1796, passed an act incorporating the
" New-Hampshire Turnpike," being the first of fifty-three corpora-
tions of the kind in the state. Among the corporators named in the

1 By resolution of city council, Jan. 17, 1893, changed to " The Pembroke."

2 Bouton's Concord, 327.
>Ibid, 328.

300 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

act was Peter Green, one of those to whom had been granted "the
'exclusive right to build and support " the Concord bridge. The
turnpike charter was enacted in answer to the prayer of a petition,
setting forth " that the communication between the seacoast and the
interior parts of the State might be made much more easy, conven-
ient, and less expensive" than hitherto, "by a direct road from Con-
cord to the Piscataqua bridge " ; but that " the expensiveness " of
such an undertaking would render it difficult of accomplishment,
" otherwise than by an incorporated company," to be " indemnified
by a toll for the sums that should be expended" by it. 1 This turn-
pike was promptly completed, running thirty-six miles, through the
towns of Durham, Lee, Barrington, Nottingham, Northwood, Epsom,
( Ihichester, Pembroke, and Concord, and between the Piscataqua and
Merrimack rivers. It led well on towards Portsmouth, whose " pro-
gress and prosperity " were then thought by many usually sagacious
observers to be "more assured than those of Boston." 2 The southern
terminus of the road was at the Piscataqua bridge, which spanned
the river, with half a mile of planking, between Durham and Newing-
ton, and was esteemed a marvel of bridge building. At the Merri-
mack, in Concord, the turnpike had two termini : one, at Federal
bridge, being that of the main line ; the other, at Concord bridge,
being that of a branch diverging from the main line on the Dark
Plains and running southwesterly to the river.

Here, to promote convenience and succinctness of narration, a few
facts out of chronologic order will be added as to bridges and turn-
pikes. About 1806, the Londonderry turnpike, one of the charter
grantees of which was William Austin Kent, was opened. It had its
northern terminus in Concord, at or near the subsequent junction of
West and Main streets. It extended to Massachusetts line, at or
near Andover bridge. 3 Its course in Concord lay along the thorough-
fare afterwards to be known as Turnpike street. Within thirty years
after the first turnpike was chartered, the popular demand for free
roads became urgent; and in 1824 the town authorized the select-
men to purchase " that part of the New Hampshire Turnpike — includ-
ing the Branch — which " lay " in Concord, for a sum not exceeding-
five hundred dollars." 4 Subsequently, likewise, the part of the Lon-
donderry pike lying in Concord became one of its free highways.
But not, until they had existed more than half a century, did the two
bridges become the property of the town, and thus free from tolls.
The proprietors' franchise in each was at last acquired by the town,
through the payment of fifteen hundred dollars. This occurred in
the case of Federal bridge in 1850, when that structure, in rebuild-

1 McClintock's New Hampshire, 456. s Afterwards Lawrence.

2 Ibid, 457. « Bouton's Concord, 371.

LIBRARY AND MUSIC. 301

ing, found location where a bridge of that name lias ever since stood.
Eight years later, Concord bridge also became free. 1

While seeking corporate privileges for business enterprises promo-
tive of material advantage, public and private, the leading minds of
the community sought also, by similar organization, to supply good
reading, and to encourage musical culture, for the enlightenment,
elevation, and refinement of the people. Thus, in 1798, a legislative
act was procured, incorporating Timothy Walker, John Bradley.
Jonathan Eastman, and their associates, by the name of " The Pro-
prietors of the Concord Library," and authorizing them to raise
money by subscription, donation, and otherwise, and to hold property
for the benefit of the library to the amount of one thousand dollars.
This first public library in Concord, though neither a town institu-
tion nor largely endowed, contained a fair collection of valuable
books, and "proved highly useful for about twenty-five years." 2
Thus, too, in 1799, a musical society was incorporated, and its organ-
ization effected, with Timothy Walker for president, John Odlin
clerk, Timothy Chandler, Richard Ayer, and Jonathan Eastman for
trustees. For years this society efficiently contributed to improve-
ment in the art ami science " of sacred music," its efforts being mate-
rially aided by the funded gift of five hundred dollars, made by Dea-
con Joseph Hall. 3

Before the organization of this society Concord's third minister
had, through the exercise of musical talent, been introduced to the
favor of the people, and from the desk of the singing-school had gone
to the pulpit of the town. Asa McFarland, a native of Worcester,
Massachusetts, who was graduated at Dartmouth college in 1793,
and was employed there the four subsequent years as preceptor of
Moore's Charity School and as a tutor, had been wont to spend some
of his vacations in Concord as a teacher of vocal music. 4 In 1797
the Reverend Israel Evans resigned the pulpit and was regularly dis-
missed after eight years' service. The "ecclesiastical council, com-
posed of the elders and delegates of the neighboring churches," in
dissolving " the pastoral relations between Mr. Evans and the church
and people " of Concord, recommended him " to the churches and to
the work of the ministry wherever God in his providence " might
"open a door." 5 He never resumed pastoral service, but continued
to reside in Concord till his death in the month of March, 1807, in
the sixtieth year of his age. To mark his grave in the Old Burying
Ground was set the first monument of marble erected there. 6

i Sixth City Report, 24. * Ibid, 532, 582.

2 Bouton's Concord, 329. 6 Town Records, 308.

zibid, 532.

e Other facts in the life and career of Mr. Evans have their place in the special chapter of
ecclesiastical history.

302 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Soon after the retirement of the second minister, Mr. McFarland
had been employed to preach as a candidate ; and in December,
1797, received a unanimous call from the church "to settle in the
ministry in the town." 1 With this action the town concurred on the
28th of the same month, in a vote giving " Mr. Asa McFarland three
hundred and fifty dollars salary yearly, and the use of all the im-
proved land belonging to the parsonage right, and liberty to cut wood
and timber on the out lands, as much as he " might " want for his
own use during his carrying on the work of the ministry in the
town." 2 To this vote twenty-two individuals entered their dissent ;
most of whom, however, afterwards cheerfully contributed their an-
nual tax to the salary. 3

Mr. McFarland, having accepted the call, was, at the age of nearly
twenty-nine years, duly ordained on the 7th of March, 1798. This
service was superintended by a committee, consisting of Captain
Richard Ayer, James Walker, Jonathan Eastman, Jacob Carter, and
John Batchelder, " with power to make provision at the expense of
the town for the council and delegates " that might attend from ten
churches invited to participate. 4 On that ordination day Concord was
the center of attraction for the people of towns around it, even to the
distance of twenty miles, and the main street was thronged with
sleighs bringing spectators and participants. Around and near the
meeting-house were displayed refreshments for sale — not exclusive of
" spirituous liquors." With music, a procession, comprising with
others the ordaining council, passed from the town house to the
meeting-house, where the sermon for the occasion was preached by
the Reverend John Smith, the learned professor of ancient languages
in Dartmouth college. The usual bountiful " ordination dinner "
was served, probably at " William Stickney's tavern " ; where, as tra-
dition positively asserts, " a splendid ball in the evening " wound up
the exercises of the day. 5

While the people of the town were intent upon pursuits of peace,
two alarms of war had come, testing their readiness to aid their
country. When, in 1794, a dangerous rebellion arose in Pennsyl-
vania against a direct tax laid upon distillers of whiskey, and a fierce
Indian war was raging in the West, the call for troops made by the
general government in preparation for the worst was promptly met
in New Hampshire. At a special town-meeting held in Concord on
the 8th of December, it was voted " to give, in addition to the conti-
nental pay for" the "town's quota of minute-men, so much as"
should " make each one's pay eight dollars per month ; and that one

1 Bouton's Concord, 320; Town Records, 313. 4 Town Records, 316.

2 Town Records, 313. 5 Bouton's Concord, 321.

3 Bouton's Concord, 320.

WAR ALARMS — POLITICS. 303

month's pay be advanced to each man when " he should " be called to
march." 1 The call to march never came, for the "Whiskey Rebel-
lion " was suppressed, and the Indian war was ended by forces already
in the field. Again, in 1797, when, during the warlike embroilment
with France, provision was made for raising eighty thousand men,
with Washington at their head, the military spirit of the country was
again aroused. Concord duly heeded the call. Forty of the most
respectable citizens enrolled themselves as continental minute-men,
while a company of volunteers from Concord and adjoining towns
was organized with Nathaniel Green, of Boscawen, for captain ;
Moses Sweat, of Concord, first lieutenant ; and Israel W. Kelly, 2 of
Salisbury, second lieutenant. Benjamin Gale, of Concord, also served
as commissary. The town voted on the 28th of December, 1797,
that the men enlisting should " have ten dollars with what the Con-
gress " gave; "and if called into service " should "have one month's
pay in advance " ; and further, that the selectmen should " give
those persons that" enlisted "a handsome treat at the expense of
the town." 3 How effective a stimulus to enlistment this last offer
proved to be is not a matter of record. The company, however, after
a short rendezvous at " Mother Osgood's tavern," marched to Oxford,
Massachusetts, and there awaited further orders. But American
naval prowess, the accession of Napoleon Bonaparte to power in
France, and the wise policy of President Adams wrought peace, so
that no active service was required of the troops called out for the
anticipated struggle, locally called " The Oxford War." 4

In course of these years strong party spirit was generated from the
foreign relations of the United States. Indeed, ever since the adop-
tion of the constitution two parties had existed ; the one strictly con-
struing that instrument, and insisting more strenuously upon state
sovereignty than upon a strong central government ; the other con-
struing more liberally the fundamental law, and laying less stress
upon " state rights " than upon a strong government of the Union.
The former were called Republicans, the latter, Federalists. Wash-
ington was a Federalist, and, from the popular faith in him, was twice
elected president without party opposition. But during his second
term a fierce partisan spirit was aroused at his determination to main-
tain neutrality in the war between France and England, especially as
evinced in his earnest support of the Jay treaty with England, in
1795, by which peace, much needed by the United States, was pre-
served with that country. This measure, the expediency of which
time was ere long to vindicate, was opposed by the Republicans,
sympathizing strongly with France, and favored by the Federalists,

i Town Records, 286. 3 Town Records, 313.

2 Afterwards a resident of East Concord. * Bouton's Concord, 323.

801 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

with sympathies less decidedly set in that direction. Washington
declined a third term, and, in 1796, after a warm contest, the Fed-
eralists elected John Adams to the presidency, but by only three
electoral votes over Thomas Jefferson, the candidate of the Republi-
cans, who under the unamended constitution became vice-president.
The Federalists were dominant in New Hampshire and in Concord;
though in the latter Timothy Walker several times received more
than twice as many votes as John Taylor Oilman, the successful Fed-
eral candidate for governor. Thus, in the spring of 1796, the vote in
Concord stood one hundred and forty-four for Walker and fifty-three
for Oilman. Both these gentlemen, however, were chosen in Novem-
ber of that year to the electoral college of New Hampshire, whose vote
was cast for John Adams. The same party complexion was retained in
town and state during the Adams administration, and even to a later
period ; though in the nation at large the Federal party, by incurring
popular odium through the enactment of the "alien and sedition
laws," and by partially breaking with the president in his policy of
maintaining peace with France, came to defeat in the year 1800.
But neither then nor for some years later did "partisan politics
become permeated by enduring heat; and only few men, not the
mass as now, had formed the habit of diligently following up current
political events." 1

In 1785 a committee, consisting of Benjamin Emery, Joseph Hall,
John Bradley, Reuben Kimball, and Joseph Farnum, was appointed
" to lay out the Main street in Concord ; " 2 but the work was not
completed, and the final report, with plan annexed, accepted by the
town till 1798. 3 The width of the thoroughfare in the original
allotment was ten rods ; but the settlers had advanced two rods on
each side, leaving the public highway only six rods wide. In some
eases even this width had been infringed upon by a few feet or
inches ; and the duty of the committee had been to note the in-
fringements, and to define accurately the course and width of the
road by permanent metes and bounds. This duty was done along a
distance of nearly a mile and a half from Butters' tavern or "corner"
northward to "Judge Walker's barn." This was "the Street;" and
by this name "the whole village was also known in town and out of
it." 4 It was, however, as yet only "the Centre road" 5 — as occa-
sionally designated in the records — and without sidewalks, so that
pedestrians sometimes found inconvenience, especially in winter.
The town sought to obviate this difficulty somewhat by voting "that

1 Asa McFarlaBd in paper read before the N. H. Printers' Association, Jan. 17, 1872.

2 Town Records. 222.

3 Ibid, 320; also see Plan of Main Street in note at close of chapter.
4 Dr. Bouton's third Semi-Centennial Discourse, June 17, 1875, p. 8.
Town Records, 320.

TOWN AFFAIRS AND PROGRESS. 305

those persons who drive sleighs on Sunday be desired to keep on the
east side of the street." l The Rev. Dr. McFarland, during the
greater part of his ministry, was wont, at the first sleighing of each
year, to promulgate the rule from the pulpit in these words : " Per-
sons who drive sleighs will please keep to the right, and let those who
are afoot have the middle of the road." And the stout, fearless
Captain Richard Ayer, once at least, practically enforced the rule.
Following one day in the steps of a number of women on their way
to meeting, he saw them compelled to turn aside into the snow, by a
loaded two-horse sleigh from out of town. The captain, indignant
at the neglect to heed his timely call to "turn out," sprang forward,
and with a blow of a heavy staff or club which lie carried brought
one of the horses to its knees, while he exclaimed to the astounded
driver: "There, turn out when you meet people on their way to
meeting, or I will knock you down." 2

Before the year 1800 this "centre road" had become a lively
thoroughfare of business travel. ( )ver it passed numerous sleds or
sleighs in winter, or wagons in summer, drawn by oxen or horses,
bearing the varied produce of the north country to seaport marts, or
returning homeward, laden with merchandise. On all days of the
week, 3 and sometimes in long trains, this travel was seen streaming
along " the street." In its necessary tarryings such well-supplied
taverns 4 as those of Benjamin Hannaford and William Stiekney,
Benjamin dale and Samuel Butters furnished fit "entertainment for
man and beast."

And here digressive mention may be made of another road in
Concord, across the river, and beyond Oak Hill, much frequented by
similar travel, and provided with John Hoyt\s famous inn. For
twenty-five years was that inn a public favorite. Its spacious oven
allowed easy entrance to a boy twelve years old, and more than
inside room enough in which to turn around. Its capacious barn,
stored with hay of "natural mowing," often stalled over night thirty-
three yokes of oxen at -a "pistareen" 5 the yoke. Its solid table
d'hote supplied fresh meats from the host's own flock and herd,
for hearty but frugal guests, who used to bring along " their own
bread and cheese."

Having returned from "Hoyt's" through "the Fort," or village of
East Concord, — where already Ebenezer Eastman had his tavern,
and Stephen Ambrose his store, — one could count along the " main
Street," in the first and second ranges of "home-lots" —as laid out

1 Town Records, 313.

2 Bouton's Concord, 322.

3 Dr. Bouton's Commemorative Discourse, March 23, 1865, p. 29,

4 See special chapter on Taverns, etc,
6 About twenty cents,

306 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

in 1726 — seventy or eighty dwelling's. These were wooden struc-
tures, rarely, if ever, exceeding two stories. They were topped with
the gable, gambrelled, hipped, or pent roof, and were occasionally
painted in red or yellow. Along with them, stood the taverns and
sundry business establishments, consisting mainly of stores devoted
to general or special trade, and shops for mechanical industries. The
village was one of wood, for brick did not come into use as building
material until later years.

Commercial enterprise, in which, at a period antedating the Revo-
lution, Andrew McMillan, Timothy Walker, Jr., John Stevens, and
Gordon Hutchins were pioneers, was destined never to slacken. In
the last decade of the eighteenth century there were upon the list of
Concord's merchants the names of William Duncan, Robert Harris,
William Manley, David Wait, William Austin Kent, Jonathan Her-
bert, and Jacob Abbot, general dealers ; and of John Thorndike, and
the brothers Philip and ( )liver Carrigain, apothecaries, all duly
licensed by the selectmen " to be retailers of wines and foreign dis-
tilled liquors." 1 Though trade was not conducted on a large scale,
yet it met the demands of an increasing patronage from within and
without the town, and was fairly remunerative. Two traders, Will-
iam Duncan and Robert Harris, seem to have been especially well-to-
do, both from present income and past accumulation. They had both
brought with them considerable means ; and each rode in his chaise,
on and after coming to town. 2 Prior to 1800 that vehicle signified
wealth, and the use of it was a luxury in which not more than two
or three others in Concord indulged; even ordinary wagons were
few, and people generally rode on horseback or went afoot. More-
over, the Duncan and Harris families, which were united by marriage,
lived in a style " reckoned genteel and fashionable," 3 and helped to
introduce new social customs, as well as to modify those of the " old
families," such as the Ayers, Bradleys, Kimballs, Stickneys, and
Walkers. 3

Another of those early merchants came into business with scanty
means, but erelong found himself a winning competitor, and rising
into prominence in the civil and social life of his adopted town. This
was William Austin Kent, a native of Charlestown, Mass., who came
to Concord in 1789, at the age of twenty-four years. The fact that
his sister Huldah had become the wife of the Reverend Israel Evans
suggested the step. Having served seven years as an apprentice, and
three more as a journeyman, in tin-plate working, he at length found
himself able, by money and credit, to purchase a set of tools, a few
boxes of tin, a barrel of sugar, a barrel of molasses, a keg of tobacco,

» Town Records (Appendix), 534-5. 2 Bouton's Concord, 513. 3 Ibid, 335.

TOWN AFFAIRS AND PROGRESS. 307

a bag of coffee, and a chest of tea. With this mechanical and mer-
cantile outfit, he journeyed from Boston to Concord, by the tedious
conveyance of a farmer's team ; and having reached his destination,
he set up his modest establishment. 1 The venture proved successful.
Within three years Charlotte Mellen became his wife and the light of
his home — a home destined to be a noted center of " refined and gen-
erous hospitality," and winch Daniel Webster was to declare, sixty
years later, to have been " one of the first in all the neighborhood in
which " he " met intelligent and cultivated society." 2

And now, besides Kent, the mechanic as well as merchant, other
enterprising men were plying all along the street their various indus-
tries. Of these were David George, the hatter ; Benjamin Hanna-
ford, the carpenter as well as taverner ; Richard Ayer and Ebenezer
Duston, the tanners ; Daniel Gale, the blacksmith ; Elijah Russell
and George Hough, the printers; Timothy Chandler and the broth-
ers Levi and Abel Hutchins, the clock-makers. The first of the last
three, a grandson of the proprietor, Captain John Chandler, was a
skilful artisan in brass clock-making, while the last two, sons of Colo-
nel Gordon Hutchins, carried on the same business near their dwell-
ing-house, from the ashes of which the Phenix hotel was afterwards
to arise. Many years before, the Reverend Timothy Walker had
brought from England the first clock set up in Concord, and, subse-
quently, Ephraim Potter, who had settled witli his brother Richard
and nephew Anthony, in East Concord, near Turtle pond, made
serviceable wooden timekeepers. But the enterprise of brass clock
manufacture, the first of its kind in New Hampshire, was undertaken
by Levi Hutchins at a date prior to the year 1786, when his brother
Abel came into partnership. The business thus established was to be
prosperously conducted by them for more than twenty years, and Levi
could say, in his old age, with just satisfaction : " ( >ur names may now
be seen on the faces of many time-keepers, standing in the corners of
sitting-rooms in houses situated in all the New England states ; and
probably there are eight-day clocks, or timepieces, of our manufacture
in all the original states of the Union." 3

Along with these busy workers in the various departments of busi-
ness were to be found those who wrought capably in the professions
of law and medicine. Not far north of the Hutchins establishment
stood the office of Peter Green, Concord's first lawyer ; and a little
farther on, his residence, somewhat noted for social refinement in
those days. The proprietor, living down the imputation of Toryism,
which had caused him some trouble in the Revolutionary time, be-

1 Bouton's Concord, 594.

2 Letter written to a son, George Kent, in 1853, cited in Boutop's Concord, 594-
? Autobiography of Levi Hutchins, 121.

308 HISTORY OK CONCORD.

came an influential and honored citizen, and having- practised suc-
cessfully his profession thirty -one years, died in 1798 at the age of
fifty-two. Samuel, 1 his younger brother, succeeded him, having, in
1793, commenced professional life, which, at the bar and on the
bench, was to continue for more than forty years. Two other tal-
ented brothers, Edward St. Loe and Arthur Livermore, had some-
what earlier engaged in legal practice here, the former of whom, by
marriage with Mehetabel, a daughter of Robert Harris, became the
father of Harriet Livermore, born in 1788, and celebrated for roman-
tic pilgrimage and sojourn in the Holy Land.

Now, too, Dr. Philip Carrigain still dwelt at the North End. This
genial and popular physician had, for a generation, been pursuing
the practice of medicine, and was to continue so to do until his
death in 1806, at the age of sixty years. Now, also, another physi-
cian could have been seen riding away on horseback from his home
opposite the town house, for the fulfilment of duty on a wide circuit
of practice. For Peter Green 2 had removed hither, in 1772, from
his native Lancaster, in Massachusetts. With the liberal training of
Harvard, and the due preparatory study of medicine, he entered upon
a prosperous career, characterized by high professional ideals, and
destined to continue for more than half a century, until it should
close with a life of fourscore years and three. 3

Thus the mile-and-a-half of Concord's main thoroughfare was, in
the last years of 1700, a scene of activity in the various departments
of human effort that mark a prosperous, enlightened community. It
was the center, the vertebrate column, as it were, of progressive,
elevating influences for the whole town, with its increasing popula-
tion of two thousand souls. 4

In 1799, a new element of brotherhood and benevolence came into
the social life of the town. Free Masonry had received its first
organization in New Hampshire as early as 1736, when St. John's
Lodge was established at Portsmouth. From that time to 1789, only
two other lodges were formed in the state, — St. Patrick's at Ports-
mouth, and Rising Sun, at Keene. Early in July, 1789, deputies
from St. John's and Rising Sun lodges organized the Grand Lodge of
New Hampshire, with General John Sullivan, president of the state,
for the first grand master. On the 23d of February, 1799, upon a
warrant granted by the Grand Lodge, on petition of seven, for found-
ing a lodge in Concord, a meeting was held in furtherance of the
object, in " Union hall " at the inn of Benjamin Gale, one of the
grantees. At the same place, on the sixth of the following May,

1 See special chapter, Bench and Bar.

2 See special chapter, Medical Profession.

3 Bouton's Concord, 668.

* The census of 1800 gave two thousand and fifty-two.

MASONRY DEATH OF WASHINGTON.

309

Blazing Star Lodge was duly consecrated in appropriate services,
conducted by Nathaniel Adams, of Portsmouth, Most Worshipful
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire. Of the
seven petitioners, Benjamin Gale and Moses Sweatt were residents
of Concord.

Thus introduced, Masonry, in its various forms and grades, was
destined here to abide. Within the next century, the number of
lodges was to be trebled; a Royal Arch Chapter, a Council of
Royal and Select Masters, and a Commandery of Knights-Templars
were to be established and maintained, with eligible halls of assem-
bly, — the one on the site of Concord's first store, the other at
Penacook. Moreover, Concord was to become a central rendezvous
for the mystic Brotherhood, where the "Grand" Masonic bodies,
comprising all the local bodies in the state, would convene in
Annual Communication, Convocation, Assembly, and Conclave.

But now the eighteenth century was about to lapse into the nine-
teenth, when, on the 14th of December, 1799, George Washington
expired ; and at the tidings of his death, a bereaved nation wept.
When the news reached Concord, men from all parts of the town
had met in large numbers to raise the frame of the ambitious Carri-
gain house 1 at the North End ; but they
straightway suspended their " work and
went home in sorrow." 2 The national
Congress was moved to recommend to
the people of the United States to as-
semble on the 22d of February, 1800,
" to testify their grief by public prayers,"
or other suitable services. The recom-
mendation thus to celebrate Washing-
ton's Birthday by funeral observance,
met with general compliance, in which
Concord participated. The people, old
and young, marched to the meeting-
house, where solemn services were held.
William Kent, 3 who, a boy of seven, had
trudged in the procession, and who was
to outlive all other participants in the
event, feelingly said eighty years later : " The solemnity of the occa-
sion, the deep mourning dress of the pulpit and galleries, in connec-
tion with the sad countenances of the people, are vivid in my mem-
ory to this day."

1 In 1900 the residence of Dr. William G. Carter.

2 Recollections of Asa McFarland, 23 (note).

3 Son of William Austin Kent.

The Philip Carrigain House.

310 history of concord.

Notes.

Beacon Wilkins. This gentleman married, in 1787, Sarah, grand-
daughter of Deacon Joseph Hall, an original settler of Penacook,
who lived at the Eleven Lots. Mr. Wilkins had a farm on or near
the ancient Hall premises, and lived in a house standing till a recent
date, at the crotch of the roads, west side, near the Countess Rum-
ford house. He was deacon of the North Church from 1811 to
1830, when he died at the age of seventy-five years. Bouton's
Concord, 295.

Scarcity of Money. Money was so extremely scarce at that time,
that John Bradley, elected representative, had great difficulty in
getting enough to take him to Exeter ; but Judge Walker supplied
him with means to pay his board while attending the legislature, and
he was the only one of fourteen boarders who paid their landlord
in full. Sometimes representatives offered the whole of their State
scrip received for services, in payment for board, but the landlords
preferred their private securities. On one occasion, a dozen of them
returning home, and passing through Concord, took lodging at the
house of John Bradley over night, without a dollar amongst them.

CENTENNIAL OBSERVANCE OF RATIFICATION DAY.

It being deemed desirable that the New Hampshire Historical
Society should celebrate, on the 21st of June, 1888, the centennial
anniversary of the Ratification of the Constitution of the United
States by New Hampshire, the matter of making preliminary arrange-
ments therefor was, on the 24th of April, referred to the committee
on orator and the standing committee, to act conjointly, and to
report to the next adjourned annual meeting of the society, to be
held on the 9th of May. On that day, the aforesaid committees, by
Samuel C. Eastman, made a report recommending the appointment
of a committee to ascertain, by circular, the feasibility of providing a
banquet, and defraying other necessary expenses for the occasion,
and such feasibility being ascertained, to make the necessary arrange-
ments for the proper observance of the day. Whereupon, a com-
mittee of three, with authority to add others, was appointed, consist-
ing of Messrs. Samuel C. Eastman, Amos Hadley, and Joseph C. A.
Hill. This committee subsequently added Messrs. Benjamin A.
Kimball, Joseph B. Walker, Isaac W. Hammond, and Charles R.
( iorning.

Hon. James W. Patterson, of Hanover, had previously accepted
an invitation to deliver the oration, and Mr. Allen Eastman Cross, of
Manchester, to read a poem.

CENTENNIAL OF RATIFICATION DAY. 311

It was ascertained by circular issued to the resident members,
that a sufficient number would attend the banquet, and a sufficient
sum would be subscribed to meet the necessary expenses and render
the occasion a success. Invitations were sent to the governors of the
thirteen original states, to the President of the United States and
members of the cabinet, to many other persons of distinction, and to
historical societies. Other arrangements were made for the day's
exercises, including an elaborate banquet, with Dooling, of Boston, as
caterer, and for after-dinner speeches by men distinguished in public
and private life, in politics and letters.

The regular sixty-sixth annual meeting of the society occurring on
the 13th of June was adjourned to the morning of Tuesday, the 21st.
At that time the society met, and having transacted the usual busi-
ness of an annual meeting, adjourned to meet again at noon, in
White's Opera House, to listen to the oration and poem. A fair-
sized audience, comprising citizens of Concord and strangers, was in
attendance. The president of the society, Hon. J. Everett Sargent,
introduced the exercises with brief remarks. The oration was then
delivered, and the poem read. These exercises completed, the mem-
bers of the society, with invited guests, repaired to Chase's hall,
where the banquet of two hundred covers was laid. The partici-
pants of the elegant, well-served repast sat at five tables. Among
the guests were : His Excellency Governor Charles H. Sawyer :
President Samuel C. Bartlett, of Dartmouth college : Hon. Mellen
Chamberlain, Hon. Robert S. Hantoul, Hon. Charles Levi Woodbury,
Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, Captain A. A. Folsom, Colonel
Albert H. Hoyt, Hon. Nathaniel F. Safford, William B. Trask,
Charles Carleton Coffin, of Boston; Hon. George B. Loring, of
Salem, Mass. ; Hon. Frank B. Sanborn, of Concord, Mass. ; Rev.
Henry A. Hazen, of Billerica, Mass. ; Hon. E. H. El well, of Port-
land, Me. ; Hampton L. Carson, F. A. Stone, of Philadelphia ; Cap-
tain Woolmer Williams, of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery of
London, Eng. The resident members of the society and other citi-
zens from Concord, Manchester, and other places were present in
goodly numbers, and numerous ladies graced the occasion with their
presence.

In course of the banquet, a telegram from Washington announced
that the United States senate had, on motion of Hon. Henry W.
Blair, adjourned in honor of the event celebrated. After dinner,
President Sargent, at four o'clock, called to order, and introduced
Hon. Samuel C. Eastman, of Concord, as toastmaster. Speaking-
ensued for more than two hours, to which the following gentle-
men, in response to appropriate sentiments, contributed: Governor

312 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Sawyer, President Bartlett, Rev. Edward Everett Hale, Hampton L.
Carson, Hon. Mellen Chamberlain, Hon. Frank B. Sanborn, and Hon.
George B. Loring.

With "America " effectively sung under the leadership of Mr. B. B.
Davis, the first centennial observance of Ratification Day came to a
close.

Dr. Carrigairi 's House. Dr. Carrigain lived at the North End, on
the east side of Main street, and where now (1900) is the residence
of Mr. Charles S. Parker. Mr. West lived on the opposite side of
the street.

Benjamin Emery's Residence. This was afterwards the homestead
of Captain Ebenezer S. Towle, at the northwest angle of State and
Franklin streets, and where, in 1900, was to stand the residence of
Mr. John H. Stewart. At an early period, Captain Emery removed
to this location from the Carrigain place, where he formerly resided.

Subscription for Town and State House. The following were sub-
scribers, pledging themselves to pay in labor or materials the sums
annexed to their names, for accommodating the general court with a
convenient house — which was also to serve as a town house : Timo-
thy Walker and Peter Green, each, $100 ; Benjamin Emery, Thomas
Stickney, and Benjamin Hannaford, each, $10 ; John Bradley, Robert
Davis, Joshua Abbot, John Kimball, and Joseph Hall, each, $30 ;
John West, $25 ; Enoch Coffin, George Hough, and James Walker,
each, $20.

Plan of Main Street, 1798.

The following plan, with its key, is from Bouton's Concord, pp. 296-

297 :

MAIN STREET,

AS LAID DOWN ON ENGRAVED MAP, AND DESCRIBED ON THE ORIGINAL PLAN IN

TOWN RECORDS.

East side — beginning at the north end:

Judge Walker's barn — the north side of it 184 rods from the Great Elm.

Mr. Herbert's store* — 77 rods from the Great Elm; two feet six inches on the
road — about thirty-two feet front.

Maj. Daniel Livermore's houset — 57 rods from the Great Elm; about nine
inches on the road — forty feet front.

The Great Elm — opposite Capt. Ayer's tan-yard.

Mr. Aaron Abbot's — 99)^ rods from the corner — seven feet on the road — twenty-
four feet front.

Barber's shop — 87, r £ rods from the corner— eight feet on the road — fourteen feet
front.

Mr. Wilkins's house — 85%rods from the corner — eight feet on the road — twenty
feet front.

Mr. Hough's printing office — 6S^> rods from the corner — three feet four inches
on the road — twenty-four feet front.

* Mr. Jonathan Herbert's store still standing, occupied as a dwelling-house.

t Formerly the residence of Dr. Bouton; on the site of John C. Thome's dwelling in 1900.

PLAN OF MAIN STREET. 313

Esq. Green's house — 67 rods from the corner — six feet three inches on the road
— twenty feet front.

Mr. Green's office — eighteen inches on the road — fourteen feet front.

Mr. Hutchins's shop — 62 rods from the corner — two feet three inches on the
road — twenty-two feet front.

Mr. Thorndike's store — 10 rods from the corner — fourteen and a half feet on the
road — twenty-eight feet front.

Mr. Dustin's bark-house — three rods from the corner to the south side — seven
and a half feet on the road — twenty feet front.

Brick drove into the ground one rod and one link westerly of the north-west
corner of Mr. Dustin's shop.

Mr. Butters's corner stone — four and a half feet west of willow tree.

West side — north end:

Stone — twenty-six feet from the north-east corner of Jacob Abbot, Esq.'s, house,
and 123 rods from the Great Elm.

Mr. Gale's house — 50 rods from the corner; 10}^ feet front; north side 10^ feet
on the road; south-east end, five feet seven inches on the road.

Mr. Wait's store — 44 rods from corner — seven feet six inches on the road —
twenty feet front.

Mr. Manley's store — 30 rods from the corner — six feet four inches on road —
thirty-six feet front.

Corner, north of Capt. Chandler's.

Birch pole — 2 rods and six feet from an oak stump in Mr. Jos. Abbot's land.

School-house — S5 rods from stone at Shute's corner.

Mr. Ladd's shop— 41 rods from stone at Shute's corner.

South-east corner of Mr. Shute's house, six and a half feet on the road.

Mr. Shute's shop on the road twenty-two feet.

314

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

E3 JUDCEWALKEB'S BARM

JUDGE WALKER'S HOUSE

STONE

MAIN STREET, 1798.

HERBERTS STORF

MAJOR LIVERMORE'S HOUSE

BENJ. CALES HOUSE

WAITS

MANLY

WILKIN'S HOUSE

HOUGH'S PRINTING OFFICC

CREEN'S OFFICE
HUTCHINS' SHOP

THORNDIKE'S STORE
DUSTIN'S BARK HOUSE

STONE
CHANDLCR'S I

SCHOOL H0USE\\<^
o
o

L ADO'S SH0P^\£\
.n

SHOP

CHAPTER X.

The Town of Concord. — Early Events of the New Cen-
tury. — Becomes the Capital of the State. — The War
of 1812. — Other Facts of the Period.

1800-1816.

The population of the town of Concord was, in 1800, two thou-
sand and fifty-two, being one thousand more than in 1775, and
seventeen times larger than that of the plantation of Penacook, in
1730. Slow, sure, and steady had been the increase of population,
not only amid the usual hardships of pioneer settlement, but amid
the extraordinary perils and persecutions which have been set forth
in previous narration.

The enumeration of the living in the course of those seventy years
has been better preserved than that of the dead. The death record
for forty-four years — from 1750 to 1792 — is entirely wanting, and
for most of the remainder of the period is scanty. But death had
been garnering for more than two generations. Ever since 1730, the
one burying-ground, near the meeting-house, had subserved its sacred
purpose. Hither, according to ancient custom, the bier uplifted by
its twelve bearers had, for many a year, been bringing from whatever
home within the borders of the town, over whatever distance, and at
whatever season, the beloved dead, here piously to be laid to rest.
There had been few interments elsewhere. In 1792 Jonathan Stick-
ney, a victim of smallpox, was buried in a secluded spot on his land,
at the foot of Stickney hill, as subsequently were some other members
of his family. This lot was, fifty years later, given by Charles Smart
to the town " for a burying-ground," 1 and accepted as such. By
1800 there had been two interments, one of which was that of Ezekiel
Dimond, in a lot near Millville, given by Warren Bradley, 1 and later
accepted by the town as a public burial place.

It was on the 5th of March, 1800, that the town established its
second public cemetery, by voting that " the selectmen vendue the
fencing of the burying yard on the east side of the river, and charge
the expense to the town." 2 This inclosure was located — according
to the record — " near Jeremiah Eastman's house," and was known
as " The Fort Burying Ground." Filled with its hundreds of graves,
and afterwards disused for years, it was to receive, near the end of

1 Bouton's Concord, 312, 430. * Town Records, 339.

316 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

the century of its establishment, becoming renovation and adornment,
in especial honor of the thirteen heroes of the Revolution asleep be-
neath its turf, and, thus reconsecrated, was again to be committed to
municipal keeping, as a precious historic trust. 1 The town having
established its second public cemetery, made provision in 1804 for its
third, by voting " to purchase''' at Horse Hill, " one acre of land of
David Carter, for a burying yard, and fence the same." 2 In such
action, the municipality was but carrying out the earlier enlightened
purpose of the plantation to provide fit resting-places for the dead — a
purpose that was to count among its appropriate results cemeteries
bearing the names of " Millville," " West Concord," " Pine Grove,"
" Woodlawn," and " Blossom Hill."

Meanwhile, in 1802, the meeting-house had been enlarged by Cap-
tain Richard Ayer and other enterprising parishioners, in considera-
tion " of the addition of pew ground," and " without any expense to
the town." 3 Those gentlemen gave bonds to execute the work
according to a plan, proposed by a committee of seven, namely, Jacob
Abbot, Richard Ayer, Paul Rolfe, William A. Kent, Benjamin Emery,
Stephen Ambrose, and Abiel Virgin, and adopted in town-meeting, 4
on the 21st of December, 1801. The plan provided for a semi-circu-
lar addition " projecting thirty feet in front, and divided into seven
angles." 5 The meeting-house thus enlarged was accepted by the
town, on the 1st of March, 1803. It was now " the most spacious
and commodious 6 edifice of its kind in the state," capable of seating
" eight hundred persons on the floor and about four hundred in the
gallery," and actually accommodating, " for many years," an average
Sabbath " congregation of about seven hundred," 6 the largest in New
Hampshire.

But as yet the meeting-house had no bell, though its belfry had
long been up, surmounted by tall spire and literal weathercock. As
early as 1800 the town had voted " to accept of a bell, if one " could
" be obtained by subscription, and cause the same to be rung at such
time as the town" might think proper; 7 but it was not until 1809
that effective action was taken to supply the want. Then the select-
men were instructed " to mark out the ground of the two front seats
on the floor of the meeting-house for pews, and sell the same at
public vendue, the money arising from the sale to be appropriated
towards purchasing a bell, when a sufficient sum in addition " should
" be subscribed " to complete the purchase. 8 The auction sale of

1 See Old Fort Cemetery, etc., in note at close of chapter.

'Town Records, 370.

3 Dr. Bouton's Anniversary Sermon, 1830; Town Records, 350-1.

* Ibid, 351-2.

Ibid, 352. 'Town Records, 340.

« Bouton's Concord, 325. » Ibid, 426.

THE CHURCH BELL. 317

the four pews thus provided for brought a little more than three
hundred dollars. With this sum duly swelled by contribution, the
long desired bell was at last obtained, and at the March town-meet-
ing of 1810 the vote was passed that it "be rung at seven o'clock in
the morning, twelve at noon, and nine at night, except Sundays," on
which the time of ringing was left to the direction of the selectmen. 1
It was further voted that " the ringing of the bell and the care of the
meeting-house one year be set up to the lowest bidder, and that the
person bidding off the same give bonds to the selectmen for the faith-
ful performance " 1 of duty. Sherburne Wiggin, having bid twenty-
five dollars, became the first sexton. This place was, for the next
two years, disposed of at vendue, Benjamin Emery, Jr., being the
successful bidder. Afterwards, a definite sum, varying from twenty
to forty dollars, was annually appropriated to this service, under the
appointment of the selectmen. In 1814 the town ordered, in addition
to the daily ringing of the bell, its tolling " at all funerals, upon
application to the sexton. , ' 2 This practice was to be continued
thirty-seven years, till in March, 1851, the following preamble and
resolution, offered by Asa McFarland, were unanimously adopted by
the town :

" Whereas the tolling of bells on funeral occasions is productive
of no good, and may, in case of the illness of the living, result in evil ;
Therefore, Mesolved, That the practice be discontinued here, as it has
generally been in other populous places."*

With the beginning of the century, the school began to outstrip
the pulpit in annual appropriations for support ; the sum voted to
the former in 1800, being four hundred dollars, and to the latter,
three hundred and fifty. Educational interest was further shown,
the same year, in the appointment of a committee, consisting of the
selectmen and " one man from each district where there " was " a
school-house,' 1 to divide " the town into school-districts." 3 The
addition of six members to the selectmen in the make-up of the com-
mittee denotes at least that number of so-called " districts " ; while it
may have been that two or three schools in the main village were not
included in the selection of committeemen. Nothing practical seems
to have resulted from this action. Indeed, it was not until 1805 that
the state law was enacted, authorizing towns to lay out school
districts. Accordingly, in April, 1807, another committee was ap-
pointed, similar to that of seven years before, but with an increased
number of members to act with the selectmen, indicating the exist-
ence of at least seventeen localities, or districts, in which public
schools were supported upon " orders drawn for school money annu-

> Town Records, 434. *Ibid, 466, 494. 3 Ibid, 339.

318 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

ally." 1 This committee, iii the following May, with Ebenezer Dus-
ton as its chairman, and town clerk, John Odlin as its clerk, laid out
the town into sixteen school districts, duly bounded and numbered. 2

The general location of these was : No. 1. Horse Hill; 2. The
Borough ; 3 and 4. West Parish ; 5. West of Long pond ; 6. Little
pond and Ballard's hill ; 7. Hopkinton road, three miles from Main
street; 8. Millville ; 9. South end of Main street ; 10. Middle Main
street; 11. North end of Main street; 12. South part of East vil-
lage ; 13. The Mountain; 14. "Snaptown," northeast part of the
town; 15. Oak Hill road to Loudon; 16. Garvin's Falls. 3 From
these, by division, seven other districts were subsequently formed, as
follows: From 8, Nos. 17 and 23, the first near Hopkinton line, the
second near that of Bow; from 9, No. 18; from 12, Nos. 19 and 22,
the latter on the Dark Plain towards Chichester; from 2, No. 20, in
Fisherville, or Penacook. 4

These twenty-three districts were permanent divisions of Concord's
territory down to a recent period, and some of them yet exist. Here,
too, it may be added in reminder and explanation of statements made
in a previous chapter 5 concerning the Bow gores, that the district
numbered sixteen belonged to the southern gore, which, in 1 804, was
severed by the general court from, the modern town of Bow and
annexed to Concord. This action had been asked for by the former
town and opposed by the latter. Bow, in view of liabilities incident
to the holding of the detached gores, including this wedge of land
that lay across the Merrimack, and between that river and its con-
fluent Soucook, was eager to yield possession ; for already the town
had been obliged to build a bridge over the Soucook, and was asking
the legislature " to make a county charge " of the same. 6 Concord,
on the other hand, did not desire the expansion of its territory over
gores outside the original Rumford bounds which it wished to have
restored, whereby would have been saved to it that triangular por-
tion of its former domain, southeast of the Soucook, which was in
1804 set off to Pembroke.

In 1801, ten years after the regular establishment of the post-office
in Concord, Charles, a son of Judge Timothy Walker, and a gradu-
ate of Harvard, who was then in the practice of the law, succeeded
George Hough as postmaster, but did not serve long. His successor
was David George, but, as there were a father and a son of that name,
which of the two was the first to succeed Mr. Walker has been made
a matter of doubt, though it was probably the son, sometimes desig-

i Town Records, 398. * Bouton's Concord, 340.

*Ibid, 398-404. 5 Chapter VII.

3 Bouton's Concord, 339-40.

«8ow, in History of Merrimack and Belknap Counties, 279.

THE POST-OFFICE A ROAD STRAIGHTENED. 319

nated as "David George, Jr." At any rate, whether the father, who
was a tailor residing just south of the burying-ground, ever served as
postmaster or not, it is certain that the son, who was a hatter and
had a shop on the east side of Main street, — nearly opposite its junc-
tion with the modern Church street, — served as such from 1806 to
1816. There, in a six by eight compartment of his shop, Mr. George
kept the post-office, where, in the earlier years at least, a Concord mail
might have found accommodation in one of the postmaster's "good-
sized hats." ] Indeed, the high rate of postage, increasing according
to distance, from the minimum of ten cents a letter for the shortest
transmission, tended to make " correspondence rare " —as another has
said — " and mostly of imperative necessity ; love-letters were few and
far between." a Still, the little office, while meeting the wants of its
locality, also had central importance in affording postal facilities for a
wide circuit of towns, including Allenstown, Bow, Canterbury, Dun-
barton, Henniker, Hopkinton, Loudon, New London, Northfield, Pem-
broke, Warner, Weare, and even others more remote. 2

An important highway improvement was effected early in the first
decade of the century. Hitherto, "the road from the meeting-house
to Boscawen line" had been a very " crooked " 3 one. It had run
from the main street through a valley south of the modern Fiske resi-
dence, and onward, near the Coffin house, to the modern Penacook
street, and westward along that to a point beyond the Bradley prem-
ises, whence, turning sharply northward, it skirted "John Bradley's
land, at the west end of his dwelling-house," also " George Arlin's
lot," and came to Wood's brook, at the southeast base of Blossom
Hill. From this point it had run, at various angles, to West Con-
cord, with westward deflection to the elevated site of Henry Love-
joy's fort, and of the later residence of Levi Hutchins — premises
destined to become public property appurtenant to the city water-
works. Thence the road had extended northeasterly for a considera-
ble distance, and then, turning, had passed on northwesterly to the
"Borough," 4 and from there northeasterly again to the bridge over the
Contoocook, within the limits of the modern Fisherville, or Penacook.

In 1804 the selectmen, Jonathan Wilkins, John West, and Amos
Abbot, Jr., as instructed by the town, "laid out a highway four rods
broad, beginning at a stake and stones near Benjamin Haimaford's
house, 5 and running north forty-nine degrees west, one hundred and
twenty rods to Wood's Brook bridge." 6 This almost direct line of

i Col. William Kent's Reminiscences, cited in McClintock's New Hampshire, 462.
2 Bouton's Concord, 330.
s Ibid, 325.
* Ibid, 325-6.

o On what was to become North State street, and near the residence of V. C. Hastings, in
1900.
Town Records, 375.

320 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

road, extended along the east side of the Bradley and Arlin premises,
instead of the west ; the old road being subsequently relinquished
as entire or partial compensation to the owners of the land through
which this part of the new highway was laid. 1 From the Wood's
brook bridge the new thoroughfare took a comparatively straight and
northerly course to and along Rattlesnake plain and through West
Concord — without westward deflection to the Hutchins place — "to
the bridge over Hoyt's Brook on Contoocook plain." 2 The diver-
gence to the "Borough" seems to have been, for the present, retained,
as also the former course thence to the Contoocook bridge at Pena-
cook.

This terminal bridge of the straightened highway had been built in
1765 at the joint expense of Concord and Boscawen, although wholly
within the latter town. It was located in a bend of the river east
of the site of Captain John Chandler's tavern, erected in 1787, and
known, in modern times, as Bonney's hotel, or the Penacook house.
The Concord road, crossing the town line, reached the bridge located
at a narrow gorge below the falls, whence the Boscawen road wound
north and west to the left, over a steep hill, and by the tavern site
just mentioned. 3

By 1805 the bridge, forty years old, was becoming unsafe, and
already the question of rebuilding it had been agitated and a new
location suggested. In this connection a question of boundary arose.
The language of the grants as to the line between the towns was con-
fusing. In the original grant of Penacook (Concord) by Massachu-
setts in 1725, the north line west of the Merrimack was described as
" commencing where Contoocook river falls into Merrimack river."
The probable intent of this indefinite statement was that the line
should run from the middle of the Contoocook's mouth ; for when,
in 1733, Massachusetts granted the plantation of Contoocook (Bos-
cawen), its south line was described as "beginning at the middle of
Contoocook river where it empties into the Merrimack, where it joins
on Penacook plantation." But when Boscawen was incorporated as
a town, by New Hampshire, in 1760, its south boundary was fixed to
begin "at the southerly side of Contoocook river's mouth, where the
same falls into Merrimack river." In this uncertainty of description,
the selectmen of the two towns perambulated the line in 1797, and
established its beginning "at a stake and stones on the southerly side
of Contoocook river, nearly opposite the middle of the main branch
where the same empties into the Merrimack." 4

In 1805, pending the question whether the towns should co-operate
"in building and supporting a bridge across Contoocook river," Con-

'Town Records, 382. 3 Coffin's Boscawen, 92-3.

» Ibid, 376. 4 Town Records, 306.

CONTOOCOOK BRIDGE. 321

cord, on the 22d of March, chose a committee, consisting of John
Bradley, Jonathan Wilkins, and Ebenezer Dnstin, to consider the mat-
ter with a like committee of Boscawen, and to report upon the same. 1
The following report was agreed upon : " That the old spot where
the bridge now stands shall be the place where a new bridge shall be
built: and that the towns of Concord and Boscawen petition the
General Court that the centre of the river Contoocook from the
mouth be considered the line between said towns, until it reaches the
present line crossing said river between said towns." 2 Boscawen
accepted the entire report; but Concord, at a special meeting held on
the 13th of May, accepted only so much of it as recommended the
building and supporting of "one half of the bridge at the old place ";
it also being voted "to raise two hundred and fifty dollars to carry
into effect that part of the report.'* 3 The matter of petitioning the
legislature to establish the line, as suggested in the report, not being
approved by Concord, was left to be done by Boscawen alone, at the
ensuing -June session of the general court. At another special meet-
ing, held on the 25th of the following November, the town declared
that it was " not willing that the prayer of the petition preferred"
by Boscawen "to set off a part" of that town, "lying on the south-
erly side of Contoocook river," and "annex" the same to Concord,
"should be granted": and it was ordered that William A. Kent, the
representative, should have a copy of the vote. 4 The petition was
not granted: but the bridge was rebuilt at the old place, and Con-
cord paid half of the expense.

This, however, was not the last of the bridge controversy. In-
crease of travel and transportation demanded a straighter road on
the north side of the river, and one that should avoid the steep hill
beyond the Boscawen end of the bridge. This demand involved the
erection of a bridge in a new place. In 1820 Concord had again
offered to go halves with Boscawen in repairing, or rebuilding, the
bridge at the old place; but in 1821 the court of sessions laid out a
road from Chandler's tavern in Boscawen, on a direct southerly line
across the Contoocook to the locality in Concord subsequently known
as Washington square, on condition that Boscawen should give
security to build and maintain one half of the bridge over the river.
Boscawen gave bond to that effect in the handwriting of Ezekiel
Webster, and of date, .January 12, 1822. Inasmuch as the new loca-
tion of the bridge was wholly within Concord, it was now Concord's
turn to petition the general court "so to alter and establish the line
between Concord and Boscawen that" it might "strike the centre of

i Town Records, 383. 3 Town Records, 385,

2 Coffin's Boscawen, 200. * Ibid, 386-7.

322 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Contoocook river at the place fixed upon to build a new bridge.'"
But nothing more came of this petition than of Boscawen's, seven-
teen years before ; and the bridge was built in 1823.

Boscawen stood by her bond for years, and until another dispute
arose as to the boundary line — in special reference, this time, to a
factory erected by the Fishers on the north side of the river. Both
towns claimed the soil on which the factory stood ; each appealing to
the description of the boundary line in its charter, and Boscawen
especially insisting upon the construction given in the perambulation
of 1797. 1 As the towns themselves could come to no agreement, the
selectmen of Concord, in 1837, petitioned the court of common pleas
for the appointment of a committee "to examine and establish the
line." The committee, consisting of John Porter, Thomas B. Merrill,
and Henry B. Chase, finally had a hearing on the 9th of October,
1840, at the Chandler tavern, then known as Johnson's hotel. Con-
cord had for counsel its own lawyer, Samuel Fletcher; Boscawen
was represented by George W. Nesmith and Ichabod Bartlett. The
committee confirmed the old line of 1797, with more definite descrip-
tion, and stone bounds were set up according to the decision, to mark
the permanent settlement of the troublesome question. 2

Boscawen refusing after this to contribute to the maintenance of
"a bridge out of town," Concord brought suit upon the bond of 1822.
The case went up to the superior court, with Franklin Pierce and
Asa Fowler as counsel for Concord, and Ichabod Bartlett for Bos-
cawen. In 1845 Judge Woods rendered the decision of the court in
favor of Boscawen, on the ground that "the contract by which" the
citizens of Boscawen "undertook to bind themselves to raise money
for building the bridge was not founded upon such a consideration as
to create a debt, and thus give the town a power to raise money." 3
Consequently, the entire burden of maintaining the bridge over the
Contoocook, winding in and out between the contending towns, was
left upon Concord.

The growing advantages of Concord, as a business and financial
centre, received recognition in 1806, when the legislature made it the
location of an incorporated bank, with "a capital of not less than
twenty thousand dollars, nor more than two hundred thousand, in
specie." The corporators, specially named in the charter, were men
of means and influence, resident in Concord and neighboring towns ;
those of Concord being Timothy Walker, John Bradley, Robert Har-
ris, Richard Ayer, and William A. Kent. There had been some
delay in obtaining the charter, primarily occasioned by rivalry between
Hopkinton and Concord. Two petitions were presented to the gen-

i Coffin's Boscawen, 199. • Ibid, 200. » Ibid, 647-8.

BANKS. 323

eral court, in 1805; one praying for a bank in Hopkinton, the other
for one in Concord. On the 19th of December of that year the
house committee on banks made a report, giving "liberty to the
petitioners to unite, and bring in a bill for the establishment of a
bank in Concord." 1 But by sixty-one yeas to seventy-nine nays the
report was not accepted, and the petitioners had leave to withdraw.
Five days later, however, this vote was reconsidered by eighty-six
yeas to fifty-five nays; and, on the 27th of December, the bill brought
in by the united petitioners, according to the terms of the bank com-
mittee's report, was passed by the house, but on the 30th was post-
poned by the senate till the next session. At this session, then, it
was that, at last, the act of establishing a bank in Concord passed
both branches of the legislature, and was approved by Governor John
Langdon on the 17th of June, 1806.

In organizing under the charter, a controversy arose as to the loca-
tion and management, which, intensified by rivalry between North
End and South End interests, resulted in the opening of two
banks; the "Upper"' or "North End" and the "Lower" or "South
End"; each claiming to be " The Concord Bank." Of the former,
Timothy Walker and Samuel Sparhawk were the president and
cashier; of the latter, Joseph Towne of Hopkinton and William A.
Kent. For some time the rivals pestered each other not a little; the
"Upper" making runs upon the "Lower" for the redemption of the
bills of the latter in specie ; the " Lower " instituting suits against
the "Upper" for issuing bills contrary to law. It is related that one
Nehemiah Jones, in the interest of the "South End" bank, brought
an action against Timothy Walker, in more than a hundred counts
covering all points at issue. But his counsel, Jeremiah Mason, the
great lawyer of his day, perceiving at last " the difficulties of the sub-
ject," and desiring to bring about a settlement, effectually cooled the
ardor of his client by signifying to him that "as lie had got into
gentlemen's company he must expect to pay a gentleman's price."
When, finally, the " disagreeable competition " 2 and unprofitable liti-
gation ceased, the two institutions, offspring of one legislative act,
gaining each its share of public confidence, successfully prosecuted
business to their twenty years' limitation. The "Upper" then ob-
tained a new charter, and took the name of " The Merrimack County
Bank " ; while the " Lower " secured a modification and extension of
the old charter, and retained the name of "The Concord Bank."
The former prosperously performed its functions for forty years
longer, and until the expiration of its third charter in 1866, when, in
perfect solvency, it voluntarily closed its doors. The latter trans-

' House Journal, December session, 1805. • Bouton's Copcord, 338,

324

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

acted business for fourteen years after receiving its second grant of
corporate power, but in 1840 succumbed in bankruptcy to the finan-
cial stress of that period. 1

Historic interest attaches to the places wherein these first two
banks of Concord did business. The " Lower " bank erected, about
the time of its opening, a brick building of two stories on the main
street, opposite the Hutchins, or Phenix, premises. This was the first
public edifice of brick reared in Concord; though the first residence
of that material had been erected in 1804, at Millville, by Jacob
( 'arter, the miller, — the builder little forecasting that it would within
half a century become, by the enlightened giving of another owner,
the nucleus of the famous educational establishment of " St. Paul's."
The bank occupied the first fioor of its building, while the Blazing
Star lodge of Free and Accepted Masons found quarters on the sec-
ond, which bore for years the name of
"Masonic, or Masons', Hall." Later,
with enlargements, the building was
for a while to be owned and occupied
by the First National bank of Concord ;
and later still, to be devoted to miscel-
laneous uses. The "Tipper" bank hav-
ing done business for twenty years in
the former residence of Major Daniel
Livermore, erected in 1827, upon
southerly adjoining land, for its own
and other uses, a three-storied, com-
somewhat ambitious for those times" — as
it has been characterized — and " the pride of " the North End " por-
tion of the town." 2 It was destined to answer well its earlier busi-
ness purposes, and to subserve conveniently its later literary uses as
the home of the New Hampshire Historical Society — once a tenant of
its upper rooms, but becoming at length its sole owner and occupant.
And now the time came for the town to win, as the strongest as-
surance of future progress and importance, the prestige of being the
Capital of the state. For a quarter of a century after 1782 the gen-
eral court, though migratory, had held more sessions in Concord
than in all other places taken together, including Exeter, Portsmouth,
Hopkinton, Amherst, Dover, Charlestown, and Hanover. Indeed,
the real competition for the coveted prize of permanent legislative
session became, from considerations of requisite convenience and cen-
trality, practically confined to a region in which Concord was the
magnetic pole of attraction. Boscawen, Pembroke, and Salisbury

1 Bouton's Concord, 338-9.

» Asa McFarland's Address before Board of Trade, Oct. 20, 1873, p. 8.

The Merrimack County Bank.

modious edifice of brick

THE CAPITAL OF THE STATE. 325

offered inducements, but the general court never sat in either of
them. Hopkinton, in which several sessions had been held, became
Concord's strongest competitor. In 1805 commenced the decisive
contest. The legislature, having held its June session in Concord,
convened in December at Portsmouth, in compliment to Governor
Langdon. At this adjourned session Hopkinton was assigned as the
place of meeting for the legislature in June, 1806. On the 18th of
this June the house voted that the session for 1807 should be held at
Salisbury, and a motion for reconsideration, made the same day, was
defeated by sixty-three yeas to eighty-two nays. But the next day
the vote came down from the senate with "Concord" substituted for
"Salisbury." The house did not concur in the amendment, but by
seventy-eight yeas to seventy nays, inserted "Hopkinton" for "Con-
cord," and the vote thus re-amended was agreed to by the senate.
The following year, 1807, on the 18th of -June, a motion made in the
house to hold the June session of 1808 at Salisbury, prevailed by
eighty-three yeas to seventy-two nays, and though on the same day,
the senate having non-concurred, another vote was passed by eighty-
nine yeas to sixty-one nays to make "Hopkinton'" the place of ses-
sion, yet on the 19th the vote came down from the senate with
" Concord " substituted, and in this amendment the house concurred.
This concurrent action proved decisive as to the permanent location
of the capital of New Hampshire. For the general court met in
accordance therewith at Concord, in June, 1808, and no serious
attempt was then made — or was afterwards to be made for more
than half a century — to change the seat of the state government.

Though the recognition of Concord as the capital of the state had
not been given by formal declaratory enactment — nor was so to be-
yet it was to be decisively enforced by future legislative action ;
especially in the location of public buildings and institutions. I ne
earliest instance of such recognition was the erection of the state
prison, which was completed for use in 181 2. 1 This structure, built
of granite quarried from the southerly slope of Rattlesnake hill, was
located upon two acres of land given by Joshua Abbot, and situated
towards the northerly end of a public highway, three rods wide,
regularly laid out in 1809-TO, from the Hopkinton, or "Milk," 2
road — later Pleasant street — to the modern Franklin street. 3 This
highway, designated almost from the first as State street, with
another two rods wide, opened at the same time, — being the part of
the later Washington street lying between State and Main streets, 4 —

1 See special chapter on Institutions .

2 Reminiscences of William Kent, cited in McClintock's New Hampshire. 461.
a Town Records, 428-9.

*Ibid, 437-8.

326 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

gave improved access to the prison site, then deemed "quite out
of the way of business and population." x The land for the State
street road was either absolutely given, or the title thereto cheer-
fully relinquished upon slight nominal award, by public-spirited
owners along the route, such as Benjamin Gale, George Hough,
Thomas G. Stevens, Josiah Rogers, William A. Kent, William
Stickney, Simeon G. Hall, Ebenezer Dustin, Richard Ayer, Abel
Hutchms, and Peter Robertson. 2 In this movement of highway
opening, primarily stirred by the establishment of a state institution
in Concord, was a prophecy of that well-ordered system of streets
which should, in the coming years, develop itself.

Probably, from some sense of pride in the growing importance of
the town, as well as certainly for the convenience of a majority of its
inhabitants, a determination was manifested in 1810 to rid the main
thoroughfare of an annoyance more rural than urban, when it was
voted in town-meeting that, "for every swine found running at
large, at any season in the main street between John Bradley's and
.John Colby's, the owner be liable to the same penalty — to be re-
covered in the same way — as for swine going at large unyoked and
umimg in the season that the law requires them to be yoked and
rung." 3 The next year " a penalty of twenty-five cents " was fixed
"for each offence"; and in 1812 the prohibition was extended
over the entire length of "road from Concord bridge to Boscawen
bridge." 4 Four years later the ranging of swine from the first day
of April to the first day of November was prohibited over an area
extending from the Merrimack to a line half a mile west of the main
street and its extension, between the line of Wood's brook bridge on
the north, and the town line on the south ; also over " the common
within one mile of Federal bridge on the east side of the river." 5
This provision concerning swine was continued in force for some
years. As early as 1807 sheep also had been restricted from run-
ning at large on Main street, between John Bradley's and John
Colby's, from April to November; 6 and the next year a new wooden
pound was built a few rods north of the meeting-house, but was
afterwards removed to Pond hill, where it stood till 1826. 7 Indeed,
the records show that the problem of effectively restraining the
"lawless range" 8 of domestic animals was one obstinate of solution
in those days.

During the first half of the period now under historical retrospect,
the popular thought of the whole country was intent upon political

1 Bouton's Concord. 343. * Ibid, 444, 450.

1 Ibid, 341-2. 6 Ibid, 481.

'Town Records, 434. e Ibid, 398.

' Bouton's Concord, 340; also see note at close of chapter.

» Ibid, 3i2.

POLITICAL MATTERS. 327

questions — some of which were of international importance, and
involved the ultimate appeal of war, and strong partisan feeling
pervaded the public mind.

In 1800, the fourth presidential year, the Federal and Democratic-
Republican parties stood in fierce array, with John Adams — serving
his first term of the presidency — as the standard-bearer of the former,
and Thomas Jefferson as that of the latter. Unwise legislation
sanctioned by President Adams, though but slightly enforced, had,
with other causes, tended to turn popular favor from him to Jeffer-
son. But New Hampshire did not yield to the anti-Adams current ;
and, at the March election of that year, gave John Taylor (id man,
the Federal, or Adams, candidate for governor, ten thousand three
hundred and sixty-two votes against six thousand and thirty-nine
for his Democratic-Republican, or Jeffersonian, opponent, Timothy
Walker of Concord. The latter, however, received in his own town
one hundred and twenty-four votes against Gil man's one hundred
and four. Without taking the sense of the people at the polls, the
legislature, that year, chose presidential electors who supported
Adams.

In 1801, the last year of Judge Walker's candidacy for the gov-
ernorship, he received in Concord one hundred fifty-six votes, and
John Langdon, another Republican, twenty-three against the divided
Federal strength of forty-four votes for John T. Gilman, and thirty-
seven for Timothy Farrar ; a result showing Concord to have be-
come strongly Republican. The state, however, was decidedly
Federal ; giving Walker five thousand two hundred forty-nine votes,
and Gilman ten thousand eight hundred ninety-eight, with four
hundred ninety-two scattering.

In 1802 the state remained Federal, and the town Republican ;
but in 1803 both town and state gave Federal majorities for gov-
ernor. So, also, they did in 1804, the fifth presidential year, when
on the second Tuesday of March 1 — the date just assigned by law for
annual elections — Gilman, still the Federal candidate, was elected,
though by only two hundred and ten majority. But in November,
though the town gave thirty majority against the Republican elec-
toral ticket which bore the name of Judge Walker, that ticket pre-
vailed in the state, and New Hampshire thus contributed to the re-
election of Thomas Jefferson.

During the first three years of Jefferson's second term the town
and state were both Republican. In 1805 a complete Republican
ascendency had been won in the executive and legislative depart-
ments of the state government, which was not readily to be broken.

iTown Records, 371, 373.

328 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

And here it may be noted in passing, that, among the personal official
changes wrought by this political overturn, was the election of Philip
( 'arrigain as secretary of state in place of Joseph Pearson, nineteen
years incumbent. The new secretary was a native of Concord, thirty-
three years of age, and a son of the physician whose name he bore.
He had graduated from Dartmouth, and chosen the profession of the
law. Never has there been in New Hampshire one holding the
office of executive, recorder more talented and versatile, more witty
and genial, more gentlemanly in manners, and more artistic in tastes,
than was Philip C arrigain, who, for four years, wielded his pen of
dexterous chirography at the council board of Governor Langdon.
He was loyal to Concord and to New Hampshire, and was the first to
apply to the latter its popular and appropriate soubriquet, "The
Granite State."' 1 While in office he began, under the authority of
the legislature, the preparation of the famous Map of his beloved
state, which was to be published ten years later ; and in aid of which
Concord contributed Captain Edmund Leavitt's careful survey and
map of the town. 2

In the spring of 1808, the sixth presidential year, the Republican
party won easily in both town and state, but in the subsequent elec-
tions of the year the federal party rallied, securing a delegation in
congress, and electors to cast their votes for Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, and against James Madison, elected as Jefferson's succes-
sor. The Federal electors each received thirty-one majority in Con-
cord. In 1809 Federal ascendency in the state government was
regained, and with the help of Concord ; Jeremiah Smith, chief justice
of the superior court, being elected governor by a small majority over
John Langdon. Concord cast two hundred and thirty-four votes for
Smith, and one hundred and eighty-four for Langdon. The town
having become Federal remained so for eleven years, or until 1819.

Within the first decade of the century, the newspapers of Concord
began to be more distinctively political. Russell's JRepvbUean Gazette
having been discontinued in 1803, and Hough's Courier two years
later, William Hoit and Jesse C. Tuttle came in to occupy the vacant
field of journalism. They commenced the Concord G-azette in July,
1806, but suspended its publication after a trial of seven months.
The materials of its early outfit were scanty. They had been pur-
chased of Dudley Leavitt of almanac fame, and brought from Gil-
manton Corner to Concord, in a two-horse wagon, carrying also two
men. 3 The publication of the G-azette was recommenced by Mr.
Tuttle, in June, 1807, and was continued by him and others for

1 See the Granite State in note at close of chapter.

2 Town Records, 382.

3 Asa McFarland, in an Address cited in a previous chapter.

NEWSPAPERS. 329

twelve years. It was Federal in politics, had "some able writers,
and, for a portion of the time, talented editors," 1 one of whom was
John Kelly, afterwards of Exeter. The circulation was considerable
during some years of its existence. From "a wretched imitation of
an eagle, so badly engraven that its groundwork was black as ink,"
which was its vignette for several years, it was nicknamed "the crow
paper,'" and so was habitually called by its Concord contemporary of
opposite politics. 2 This latter newspaper had come into existence on
the 18th of October, 1808, and was named The 'American Patriot.
William Hoit, Concord's veteran compositor, was its publisher, the
literary labor upon the new journal being entrusted to an "Associa-
tion of Gentlemen," of which one was Philip Carrigain, secretary of
state. But soon its columns were not to depend upon any such "asso-
ciation"; an editor was to take charge of them who could help him-
self. Within six months, Isaac Hill, who had just completed his
apprenticeship at printing in the office of the Amherst Cabinet, came
into ownership of the paper, and issued, on the 18th of July, 1809,
his first number, under its new name of New Hampshire Patriot. He
was then a young man of only twenty-one years, but he soon breathed
into the Patriot the breath of enduring and influential life, and made
more fully realized than ever before in New Hampshire the efficacy
of the newspaper in moulding and guiding the popular thought.

This master of political journalism had come to pursue his calling
at the capital, on the persuasion of William Low, his friend and
never-failing supporter. The latter and his neighbor, Benjamin
Damon, had, in 180(3, removed from Amherst to Concord, where, as
partners, they engaged in painting and chair-making. Within the
first decade of the century, the same migration was made by several
other "active and enterprising young men" — as Peter Robertson,
the baker ; William Fisk, the shoemaker, resident many years at
West Concord ; Francis X. Fiske, the successful merchant of the
" North End " : and somewhat later, after relief from war service.
Joseph Low, younger brother of William, and capable man of affairs,
both private and public. These seven constituted the "Amherst
colony," 3 as this valuable accession to the citizenship of Concord was
often called.

During the years 1810 and 1811 the Republican idea was vigor-
ously propagated throughout the country, and became generally prev-
alent, that though both France and England had wickedly violated the
commercial rights of the United States, yet that the latter, by adding
to other outrages, persistency in the barbarous practice of " impress-

1 John Farmer, in Letters cited in a previous chapter.
2 Asa McFarland, in Address already cited.
3 Bouton's Concord, 677-8.

880 HISTORY OF CONCOBD.

ment " whereby thousands of American- seamen had been ruthlessly
kidnapped, was the greater sinner of the two, and, as the last resort,
should be called to account in war. This idea had to contend with
strong Federal opposition, and nowhere with stronger than in com-
mercial New England, where war with the vaunted " mistress of
the seas " was especially dreaded. Hence, Madison's administration
was bitterly assailed as hostile to American commerce, " unjust to
Great Britain, and criminally subservient to France." 1 Isaac Hill,
in his Patriot, condensed in a single sentence the Republican esti-
mate of the Federal party, as one " whose principles are devotion
to Britain, abhorrence of France, and contempt for everything Amer-
ican.''

The war cloud thickened. There was premonition of the coming-
storm in the active hostility of the Western Indians, supposed to
have been stirred by British influence. In 1811 General William
Henry Harrison took station in Indiana, with a force of regulars and
militia, to bring the hostile tribes to terms. To this force was at-
tached the Fourth United States Infantry, in command of Colonel
James Miller of New Hampshire. On the 7th of November was
fought near Tippecanoe, the chief Indian town, a fierce battle, re-
sulting in Indian defeat, but not without heavy American loss.
The Fourth Regiment of Regulars, in which were men of New Hamp-
shire and of Concord, was in the thickest of the fight. 2 Among
those of Concord were the adjutant, John L. Eastman, 2 great-
grandson of the Penacook pioneer, and the six privates, John Vir-
gin, 3 great-grandson of another original proprietor of Penacook, John
Elliot, John Urann, and John and James Dunlap. 4

On the 18th of June, 1812, war was formally declared against
Great Britain. Congress had previously made provision for detach-
ing quotas of militia in the several states, for service as needed.
Accordingly, Governor Langdon, upon requisition of President Mad-
ison, had issued orders " for detaching three thousand five hundred
from the militia of the state, and organizing them into companies,
battalions, and regiments, armed and equipped for actual service, and
in readiness to march at the shortest notice." 5 The draft was made
at once, but the completion of the organization was left by Governor
Langdon to his successor, William Plumer. The first of Governor
Plumer's military orders that directly affected Concord was one
issued in August, 1812, to General Asa Robertson of the Third
Brigade, to which belonged the Eleventh Regiment, requiring him to

1 Barstow's New Hampshire, 350.
2 Adjutant- General's Report, 1868, pp. 25, 26.

3 See note at close of chapter.

4 Bouton's Concord, 346.

5 Adjutant-General's Report, 1868, p. 6.

SECOND WAB WITH ENGLAND. 331

detach a company of artillery for the defense of Portsmouth. The
order was complied with, and the company put under the command
of Captain John Leonard, of Londonderry. The roll bore the names
of thirteen Concord men, including a sergeant and two corporals. 1
The regiment did duty for about three months, at Jeffrey's Point,
where was a government battery of two nine-pounders, commanding
the western entrance of Portsmouth harbor.

Concord early became, and during the war remained, a promi-
nent recruiting station, and a convenient rendezvous both for sol-
diers enlisting and enlisted into the regular service, and for troops
on their way from Boston and other populous seaside towns to the
Canadian frontiers. The barracks of the rendezvous had location
in the Carrigain house on Main street, at the North End ; on the
WTUey premises on the same street, at the South End ; and on a
spot — also at the North End — on State street, near the site of the
later brick schoolhouse of District Number Eleven. 2

On the 8th of May, 1812, more than a month before the declara-
tion of war, Lieutenant-Colonel Bedel, of the Eleventh United States
Infantry, who was in command of "the District of New Hampshire
for recruiting,'" established his rendezvous at Concord. He was
under orders to recruit seven companies; and by the 18th of Sep-
tember he had enlisted three hundred and ninety-seven men for his
regiment, and marched them to Burlington, Vermont, 3 where the
organization was completed the following winter.

Captain John McNeil, of Hillsborough, — who, in higher grades of
command, was to win distinguished honor in the war, — raised a com-
pany for the "Eleventh," and marched it to Concord. For some
reason — probably the rush of soldiers into town — not finding accom-
modation for his men in the main village, he took them to East
Concord, and quartered them for the night at the tavern of Isaac
Emery, a Republican. Political feeling was running high, and one
Aaron Austin, a Federalist, who kept an opposition tavern in the
village, headed a company of his partisans in a call of no friendly
intent upon the soldiers at Emery's hostelry. In the bar-room alter-
cation soon ensued, and words led to blows — with Austin busy in
the scrimmage. Soon, however, the captain appeared upon the
scene — " a powerful man, six feet six in his stockings, well propor-
tioned, and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds " — and, snatch-
ing up the belligerent inn-keeper, " threw him out of an open win-
dow upon the green." 4 The other visitants, seeing their leader thus

1 See note at close of chapter.

- Asa McFarland's "An Outline of Biography and Recollection."

s Adjutant-General's Report, 1868, p. 35.

* Ibid, p. 37.

332 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

easily thrown out of the tight by the future hero of Chippewa and
Lundy's Lane, incontinently withdrew.

The Twenty-first Regiment United States Volunteers, raised in
Maine and New Hampshire, and at first commanded by Colonel
Eleazer W. Ripley, and subsequently, in 1813, by Colonel James
Miller, had close relations with the " Eleventh " ; the two, indeed,
seeming to have been consolidated 1 for a time. In the "Twenty-
first," Jonathan Eastman, Jr., of East Concord — a great-grandson of
Captain Ebenezer Eastman — did service as lieutenant, captain, and
paymaster. 2

The First Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers, enlisted
throughout the state for one year, was organized at Concord on the
29th of November, 1812, by the choice of certain officers of whom
were Aquila Davis, of Warner, colonel; John Carter, of Concord, a
Revolutionary veteran, lieutenant-colonel ; and Joseph Low, then
of Amherst but soon to be of Concord, adjutant. These were duly
commissioned as such by the president ; except Low, who, having
declined the adjutancy, received commission as quartermaster. The
regiment was ordered into camp early the next year, and thence was
soon marched to Burlington. But near the end of January, 1813,
congress repealed the " Volunteer Act," 1 under which the regiment
had been raised. Consequently, disbandment ensued ; but the
soldiers, having enlisted for one year, were held. The new law
affected in the same manner a regiment in Maine under command of
Colonel Denny McCobb. Some of the volunteers having enlisted
into existing organizations of the regular service, the remnants of
the two disbanded regiments were consolidated to form the Forty-
fifth United States Regiment, with Denny McCobb for colonel,
Aquila Davis for lieutenant-colonel, and Joseph Low for paymaster. 3
The new regiment went on duty at Lake Champlain ; and when the
term of the one year's men had expired, its ranks were soon refilled,
especially through the efforts of Paymaster Low, who, with other
officers, had been sent into New Hampshire to obtain recruits. 4 The
regiment contained at least ten Concord men, including Marshall
Baker, a lieutenant in Captain Joseph Flanders's company. 5 And
here suggests itself, in humorous relief to dryer details, the fact
that once, while the regiment was stationed on an island in the lake,
Colonel Davis kept the enemy "at a respectful distance from the
shore,' * by "mounting a formidable battery of huge guns" improvised
"from pine logs, hewn, fashioned, and painted" into marvelous resem-
blance to cannon of dreadful bore — a device of the Yankee lumber-

1 Adjutant-General's Report, 1868, p. 58 * Ibid, p. 81.

*Ibid, p. 70. * Ibid, 92.

Bouton'a Concord, 346; also see list in note at close of chapter.

SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND. 333

man, which, when discovered too late, thoroughly chagrined the Brit-
ish engineers. 1

About five hundred soldiers had their rendezvous in Concord in
1812 and 1813 ; 2 while many more passed through the town on
their way to assigned posts of duty. "The place," says Asa Mc-
Farland, 3 " suddenly derived additional consequence as a central
and rising town. Every day was one of interest to the resident
population. Troops were coining and going, and new faces con-
stantly seen. The quiet and sobriety of Concord were somewhat
invaded, and would have been more so but for the restraining influ-
ence of some officers of the highest personal character, who were
determined that all under their command should be kept in as com-
plete discipline as possible. ( )f this class was one Darlington, a
colonel, who, with his wife and a servant boy, boarded at the Stick-
ney tavern. Colonel Darlington and his wife were people who
deserved and received marked attention. There were other officers
stationed here of corresponding influence."

One disorderly affair, however, which created "great excitement," 4
occurred at the annual town-meeting in March, 1813, when certain
volunteers attempted to vote, contrary to the decision of the moder-
ator, Colonel William A. Kent. The latter willingly received "the
votes of those in the service of the United States who were inhabi-
tants of the town at the time of their enlistment, and " had " not yet
departed from it." 5 As he was proceeding to state the grounds of
his opinion, that "the soldiers from the barracks who never were
recognized as inhabitants could not be so considered for the purpose
of electing or being elected to office," he was met "with interrup-
tions, evidently intended to protract the meeting to a late hour. " 5

Therefore, he determined to desist from "that attempt," and
at once decided that the ballots of those who were not inhabitants
" should not be received in any way or manner." 5 The following
votes, 6 passed the next day, show what ensued upon the practical
maintenance of the upright decision, also what was the general senti-
ment of the citizens of the town as to the conduct of intruder and
moderator :

"-Voted, That the conduct of one McCoy, a volunteer in the
service of the United States, and not belonging to this town, in
attempting, yesterday, in defiance of the moderator of the meeting,
to vote for state and county officers, deserves severe censure ; but his

1 Adjutant- General's Report, 1868, pp. 70, 71.

2 Bouton's Concord, 344.

3 In " An Outline of Biography and Recollection."
« Bouton's Concord, 344.

B Reply of Colonel Kent to vote of approbation, Town Records, 459, 460.
"Town Records, 458-9.

334 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

act of collaring the moderator while in the exercise of his official
duty, we consider an outrage of the most destructive character."

"Voted, That the thanks of this meeting be given to William A.
Kent, Esq., the moderator, for his temperate, resolute, and judicious
conduct upon that occasion."

In closing his speech in reply to this expression of approbation,
the moderator thus delicately alluded to the politics of the affair :
" The insult offered to the town by the assault on its representative,
1 doubt not, is duly felt by my fellow-citizens ; and 1 rejoice that,
notwithstanding the difference of opinion respecting our national
politics, so many of those who differ from me on that part united in
reprobating and resenting that indignity." 1

This political excitement in Concord was accompanied by alarm
and sorrow from another cause. A malignant scarlet fever broke out
in the barracks, and spread thence to the homes of the inhabitants.
Two hundred and ninety-seven persons were smitten : forty-nine
regular soldiers, of whom seven died ; one hundred volunteers—
twenty-four fatally ; ninety-three inhabitants, with six deaths. 2 A
hospital was built upon the land owned by Nathaniel Abbot, west of
the state prison, and the services of Dr. Bartley, of Londonderry, were
employed to aid the two physicians of the town, Petei Green and
Zadock Howe, in attendance upon the sick inhabitants. 3 The June
following, the town provided for Dr. Bartley's compensation by
authorizing the selectmen, " after collecting what they " could " from
the persons whom the doctor visited, to pay, out of any money be-
longing to the town, the remainder of the sum charged for his ser-
vices and expenses." 4

In the course of the years 1813 and 1814, detachments of the state
militia were stationed at Stewartstown, on the northern frontier, but
especially at Portsmouth on the seaboard. It was not, however, till
1814 that Portsmouth was most seriously threatened by British
cruisers hovering about the coast, and it was then that militia drafts
were made, in which Concord had a share. In July of that year the
town contributed eleven recruits for three months, with William
Shute lieutenant, to a company commanded by Captain William
Marshall, who had been stationed at Portsmouth for some time. In
August, the selectmen and the captains of companies in town were
authorized to pay those who had been drafted such compensation as
they might think proper, and to hire all soldiers thereafter called for
during the year, " in lieu of drafting." 5 This compensation was
fixed by the town, early the next year, at four dollars a month for

1 Town Records, 460. *Town Records, 462.

1 Bouton's Concord, 345-6. B Ibid, 469.

3 Ibid, 346.

SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND. 335

each soldier detached from the militia, in the service of the United
States.

On the 7th of September, Governor Gilman, " in view of the recent
depredations of the enemy upon the seaboard of the United States," *
issued a call for detachments from twenty-three regiments, and two
days later the following supplementary one in " general orders " :
" That the whole of the militia, including infantry, cavalry, and
artillery, hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warn-
ing, completely armed and equipped according to law, and as well
provided as possible with blankets and ammunition. And whereas
there are a large number of men able to bear arms, who are, by our
militia laws, exempted from ordinary military duties, they are hereby
invited and requested, in the present alarming state of the country,
to assemble in their respective towns, organize themselves into com-
panies, and prepare for defence, in case it should become necessary."

The orders to detach were promptly obeyed, and the detachments
from twenty-three regiments were soon in Portsmouth. There they
were organized into five regiments ami two battalions, one of the
latter being exclusively of artillery ; the other mixed, being composed
of infantry and one artillery company. In the First Regiment was a
company commanded by Captain Nathaniel G. Bradley, of Concord,
and containing ten 2 of his townsmen, engaged for three months' ser-
vice ; and to Captain Edward Fuller's company of the Second Regi-
ment, Concord supplied sixteen 2 three months' men. In the mixed
battalion was Captain Peter Robertson's volunteer company of artil-
lery from the Eleventh Regiment of New Hampshire militia. Within
twenty-four hours after the issuance of the governor's second call,
the members engaged their services, and forthwith marched on the
Sabbath, by the meeting-house, over Federal bridge, and along the
turnpike, to Portsmouth. 3 Officers and men, they numbered thirty-
one, 4 all of Concord, and were in service from the 10th of September
to the 29th, or twenty days. About the 1st of October the main
body of troops stationed at Portsmouth, now out of danger, were
discharged.

The governor's appeal to military exempts, contained in his " gen-
eral orders," issued on the 9th of September, met with immediate
compliance in Concord. On the 10th, a preliminary meeting of men
of both parties was held at Stickney's hall, Colonel William A. Kent
presiding, and the following preamble and resolution were adopted :

" Whereas, in defence of our altars and firesides, our property
and our country, Americans can have but one opinion :

i Town Records, 474. 3 Bouton's Concord, 347.

'See list in note at close of chapter. * See list in note at close of chapter.

336 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

"Resolved, That it is expedient to form a military association in the
town of Concord, of such persons as are not enrolled in the militia,
to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to act under the direction
of the commander-in-chief, for the defence of the state." 1

A committee was raised without distinction of party to forward
the movement. Over a hundred men, comprising some of the most
respectable and venerable citizens of the town, were straightway
organized into a company numbered the Sixth of Volunteers. 2
Stephen Ambrose was chosen captain, with a full list of subordinate
officers. The patriotic spirit thus manifested was meritorious,
though the only service done by the company was to march, fully
armed and equipped, through Main street, on the first day of
October 3 — presenting an "appearance," said the New Hampshire
Patriot, " that was accompanied with the proud conviction that this
nation can never lie conquered when such defenders shoulder the
musket."

By October, 1814, the war's last campaign in the North was
closed, while that in the South was progressing towards its end
to be reached in the early winter. From August, peace negotiations
went on at Ghent, resulting in a definitive treaty on the 24th of
December. Before the news of this treaty could cross the Atlantic,
the last battle of the War of 1812 was fought at New Orleans, and
the great American victory there won on the 8th of January, 1815,
crowned the nation's cup of joy over the return of peace.

As narration comes again to the days and doings of peace, certain
facts, falling within the years of war, deserve a passing backward
glance. In January, 1812, at the active suggestion of Elizabeth
McFarland, the minister's wife, — pious, prayerful, and efficient in
good works, — was established "The Concord Female Charitable
Society," 4 — the first organization of the kind in New Hampshire, if
not in the United States, — that worthy social and religious device
of benevolence, which was to become the model of similar institu-
tions in town, and, in the holy competition of charity, was to pass in
its green old age into another century. Nor did the Society confine
its charity at home; for, in January, 1814, joining with other women
of Concord, it transmitted to Portsmouth nearly two hundred dol-
lars, for the relief of women and children suffering from the calam-
itous fire of the 22d of November, 1813. 5

It was not until the year 1807 that the town took action looking
towards the creation of an effective Fire Department, by choosing, on

1 Bouton's Concord, 348.

1 Bouton's Concord, 347-8; also see list in note at close of chapter,

3 Ibid, 348-9.

* Bouton's Concord, 440.

6 J&id, 354.

EARLY FIRES AND FIRE ENGINE COMPANIES. 337

the lOtli of March, "Benjamin Kimball, Jr., Nathaniel Abbot, Sar-
geant Rogers, Timothy Chandler, and Paul Rolfe, Fire-wards." 2
Not long before this the town seems to have come into possession of
an engine, or tub — but when or how is not recorded. On the 17th
of the following June the legislature passed an act "to incorporate
certain persons by the name of Concord Engine Company, No. 1."
By virtue of this act, notice dated June 2"2d was issued over the
signatures of Sherburn Wiggin and Abel Hutchins, calling a meeting
of the members of the company at the town house, on the 3d of
August, for the purpose of organization. 2 Xo further record of this
movement is extant ; but the town at its next annual meeting
elected lire-wards, as it continued to do in subsequent years. It
seems, too, that Concord Engine Company, Xo. 1, was re-incor-
porated in December, 1<808. 3

During more than eighty years after the settlement of Concord,
only three fires are recorded as having occurred within its territory.
The first of these was caused by lightning, early in July, 1797, when
the barn of a Mr. Partridge — probably located at the south end of
Main street — was struck, but the resulting flames were speedily
extinguished. 4 The second was thus described by the Mirrour :
"On Saturday evening, Jan. 20, 1798, about ten o'clock, the inhab-
itants of this town were alarmed with the cry of fire ! fire ! which
broke out in the hatter's shop of Mr. David Oeorge, Jr., contiguous
to the store of Messrs. P. & ( ). Carrigan (north end Main street).
The anxiety of the citizens, when so much property was exposed,
was amazing, and by their assiduous exertions and regular procedure,
together with the assistance of some ladies, they happily extin-
guished the destructive element with little damage to anything
except the building. Let this, fellow citizens, excite every one to
diligence. Query — Would it not be a good plan for every man to
keep a good ladder and one or two proper fire buckets always
ready? "

The third fire occurred in 1802, consuming Ensign Jacob Carter's
grist-mill and Thomas Vesper's carding machine, at West Concord,
the cause being overloaded gudgeons, and the loss two thousand
dollars. 4

Seven years later, and two years after the adoption of the lire-
ward system, the fourth recorded fire destroyed, on the night of
August 17, 1809, Major Timothy Chandler's clock manufactory,
house, barn, and outbuildings, together with two barns belonging to

iTown Records, 395.

2 Concord Gazette, June 30, 1807.

3 See First Fire Engine Company, in note at close of chapter.

4 From notes communicated by John M. Hill and Fred Leighton.

-3

338 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Robert Harris, the merchant. The loss of the latter was one thou-
sand dollars ; that of the former, five thousand, — twelve hundred
dollars of which were generously reimbursed, since no insurance
system yet existed, by a relief subscription from the inhabitants of
the town. 1

Another fire, on the loth of February, 1812, consumed a building 2
at the North End, occupied by Mann & Robertson, traders, and
George W. Rogers, cabinet-maker, and greatly endangered the "Up-
per Bank," then having its quarters in the building 2 nearest on the
south. 3

Such reminders forcibly suggested the necessity of a better system
of protection against fire; especially as the efficiency of the fire-
wards had hitherto been seriously hampered through lack of adequate
delegated authority. Hence, at the annual meeting held on the 11th
of March, 1812, the town appointed its three lawyers, Thomas W.
Thompson. Charles Walker, and Samuel Green, "to report at the
next meeting a by-law for extinguishing fires." 4 At the same time,
"one hundred dollars" were "raised to purchase fire-hooks and
make necessary repairs of the engine." 4

A year later, on the 10th of March, 1813, the committee reported,
and the town adopted, a by-law prescribing the annual choice of fire-
wards, who should have, " for the distinguishing badge of their office,
a staff five feet long, painted red, and headed with a bright spire six
inches long." These officers were given full powers — enforced by
penalties — to demand assistance of any inhabitants in extinguishing
fires or preventing their spread ; to remove property from endangered
premises ; to direct the operations of extinguishment ; " to suppress
all tumults and disorders" at fires; "to search and inspect all houses
and places " where danger from fire might be apprehended, and to
order precautionary " repairs, alterations, or removals." 5

For years fire-wards with such powers managed the Concord fire
department, with its one engine, till 1818, when was added the
second, an invention of Samuel F. B. Morse, 6 — then resident in town
as a portrait painter, — and an humbler effort of that genius which
was yet to find out the electric telegraph. The same year were
adopted by the town, upon report of the fire-wards, a recent act of
the legislature relating to the prevention and extinguishment of fires,
and an older enactment upon the same subject, — originally designed

1 Bouton's Concord, 349.

2 The building destroyed stood on the spot where subsequently Richard Herbert dwelt;
the building threatened was the Livermore house, occupying the site of John C. Thome's
residence in 1900.

s Bouton's Concord, 353.

* Town Records, 450.

sibid, 455-6-7.

c Ibid, 494; see S. F. B. Morse in note at close of chapter.

THE CONCORD STAGE COACH. 339

for Portsmouth, — with the provisions of both statutes made applica-
ble to the main village and to East and West Concord.

The two small engines were located in the main village, and were
each worked "by a brake, six men on each side," with twenty or
thirty feet of hose for "delivery," but none for "suction." "At the
cry of tire, and the ringing of an alarm bell," writes Dr. Bouton, 1 "the
tire-wards seized their badge, — with a bine ribbon streaming from the
apex, — the firemen sprung for their engines, to be drawn by hand,
and the people, with pails and buckets, rushed to the scene. Then
would be heard the word of command from a tire-ward, ringing out
in stentorian tones — ' Form a line." Then the people, — all the people
(whoever disobeyed did it at his peril) fell into line, — rather, two
lines, — one to pass single buckets of water from the nearest well,
hand by hand, to be emptied, one by one, into the ttib of the engine;
the other, to return the buckets to be refilled. Then a stream of
water from a half-inch pipe would be thrown upon the burning build-
ing. Very unfortunate was it if a well, with five or six feet of water,
should give out before the fire was got under, but so it often hap-
pened. And if a building was so unfortunate as to be burnt up, it
was not for want of good will and of a good sweat on the part ot
tire brakemen, nor because the people in lines did not help all they
could." From such beginnings the progress of the fire department
is to be noted in the future course of narration.

In May, 1813, Lewis Downing, a young man one month short of
his majority, came to Concord from Lexington. Massachusetts, to
engage in mechanical industry. The items of his capital were : Cash
in pocket, sixty dollars: tools, valued at less than one hundred: a
hand and a brain not to be appraised in dollars and cents. Locating
himself in business at the north end of the main street, nearly oppo-
site the " Upper Bank," he worked for one year entirely alone, and
in November after his arrival completed his first "Concord Wagon,"
'•every part of the work " having been "done by hand labor," un-
aided by any "power machinery." For the next twelve years he
employed from three to six hands, having, meanwhile, in 1816,
removed his shop to the "Duncan estate" at the South End, the
permanent site of his carriage manufactory. With shop enlarged,
and with blacksmithing, painting, trimming, and other branches of
his industry started, he fortunately secured, in 1S2»*>, the services of
.1. Stephens Abbot, of Salem, Massachusetts, a promising young man
and mechanic, twenty-two years old, to assist at first in the manufac-
ture of the " Concord Stage Coach," a vehicle to become famous
round the world. The efficient employee constructed the first

'Appendix to " Discourse on the Growth of Concord," June 17, 1875, pp.39, 40.

340 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

"coach bodies" ever made in New Hampshire, and in 1828 became
a partner in the firm of Downing & Abbot, which, for nearly twenty
years, by its skilful and honest workmanship, achieved prosperity
and a high and wide reputation for itself and its forty workmen, as
well as honor and other advantages for its town.

Such, in mere sketch, were the inception and early progress of this
important enterprise — subjects which are fully treated in a special
chapter; as are also the fortunes of the establishment from 1847 to
1900; — till, in fine, the "Abbot-Downing Company," duly incorpo-
porated, should have its capital of four hundred thousand dollars, its
pay-roll of nearly three hundred men, and its magnificent plant, cov-
ering six acres of that " Duncan estate," on which stood the founder's
unobtrusive shop in 1816.

In the first year of the war, the "Merrimack Boating Company''
was chartered by the legislature of New Hampshire. This action was
promotive of a long-contemplated scheme for providing, by water trans-
portation, cheap and convenient commercial interchange between Bos-
ton and the north country. The scheme carried out could but prove
particularly advantageous to Concord, as a terminus and distributing
centre. The Middlesex canal, from Charlestown " Mill Pond " to the
Merrimack just above Lowell, had been opened in 1803 ; while also
a series of locks and canals to render possible the navigation of the
river had been in process of construction. Governor James Sullivan,
of Massachusetts, brother of the distinguished Revolutionary general
of New Hampshire, projected the " Middlesex " ; his son, John L.,
supervised its construction, and superintended it after its comple-
tion. Most of the locks and canals along the river were also con-
structed under his supervision. Indeed, it was mainly through the
energy of John L. Sullivan that the navigation of the Merrimack was
consummated. Of the company incorporated in 1812 he had general
control for twenty years. In the autumn of 1814, the last year of
the war, the company's first boat arrived at Concord, 1 with only
" a small cargo of general merchandise," as some of the locks along
the river were not quite completed. But, with the completion of
these, and a storehouse near Concord bridge put in order, boats, with
regular freight from Boston to Concord, commenced running in June,
1815 ; the first arriving in Concord on the 23d of that month. 2

The same corporation — though after seven years bearing the name
" Boston and Concord Boating Company " — successfully prosecuted
this river navigation until the railroad supersedure in 1842. Twenty
boats, of twenty tons burden each, were employed, and respectively
manned by crews of three, who propelled them up river with " set-

1 Bou ton's Concord, 740. * Ibid, 371.

concord's first senator. ; 541

ting poles," and down stream with oars, or in either direction with
sails when the weather was fair. The entire annual freightage upon
merchandise thus conveyed to and from Boston, averaged twenty-
five thousand dollars. For the last twenty years of the company's
active existence, Theodore French, one of its most capable agents,
was in charge of the Concord Landing — a busy place iii its season ;
with the little fleet, lading and unlading, going and coming, floating
upon the quiet waters of the Merrimack, or threading in search of a
safe level the "locks" along its falls and rapids. This river naviga-
tion has further mention in a special chapter.

During the last two years of the war, Thomas W . Thompson pre-
sided in the lower house of the state legislature; being the first repre-
sentative of Concord to hold the position of speaker. With Stephen
Ambrose he represented the town in the general court for four con-
secutive terms — a continuous length of service entirely exceptional
for Concord members of that body. This speaker of the New Hamp-
shire house of representatives, in 1813 and 1814, was a native of
Boston, a graduate of Harvard, a lawyer of ability and prominence,
a trustee of Dartmouth college, and a politician of statesmanlike
capacity, who had been a member of the lower house of congress,
and was to have a seat in the upper — Concord's first United
States senator. Having in the political overturn of 1809 become
state treasurer, he, the next year, removed to Concord from Salis-
bury, hitherto his residence. The tall, dignified, courteous gentle-
man filled the speaker's chair with unusual ability and success ; and,
though a strong Federalist, won Republican approval for his upright
performance of official duty, in the severe partisan stress of that
day. His home was in Concord for more than ten years — a home of
refined enjoyment, and of refining social influence. There was
drawn the last breath of a useful, honored, and Christian life in the
year 1821, the fifty-fifth of his age. 1

Notes.

old fort cemetery.

Dedication of Memorial Tablet. On Monday afternoon, October
29, 1894, occurred in East Concord the dedication of a mural
tablet at the Old Fort cemetery, in special memory of the thirteen
Revolutionary patriots whose mortal remains were deposited in that
ancient burial-ground — long ago filled and disused. The execution
of the filial and patriotic undertaking, thus celebrated, was due to
the earnest, noble-hearted efforts of two ladies, lineal descendants of

J See Passed Away, in notes at close ofchapter.

342

HISTORY OF CONCORD.

Revolutionary ancestors — Mrs. Ruth Eastman Staniels, of East Con-
cord, and Miss Annie M. Phelps, of Brookline, Massachusetts. The
former, more than fourscore years of age, in carrying out her pur-
pose of renovation and adornment, found in the latter a congenial
spirit of more youthful years, ready, in filial affection and noble
generosity, to supply the means requisite to its fit accomplishment.
The memorial tablet, a massive, highly polished monolith of Quincy
granite, seven feet in length, five in height, and one foot in thiek-
ness. adorning the cemetery wall, bears this inscription :

SOLDIERS OF THE REVOLUTION.

Timothy Bradley Reuben Kimball

1731-1814
Mellen Kimball

1761-1844
Simeon Locke

1756-1S36
Anthony Potter

1755-1826
John Thompson

Phil brick Bradley

1756-1840

Jonathan Eastman

1746-1834

Joseph Eastman

1738-1815

Nathaniel Eastman

1755-1839

Moses Eastman Joshua Thompson

1732-1812 aid to

David Eastman Lafayette

1762-1S24 1750-1831

Tins tablet erected in behalf of Matilda Hutchins Phelps by Annie M. Phelps.

— 1SU4-

The dedication was in charge of the local members of the New
Hampshire Society of Sons of the American Revolution, of which

Mr. Charles E. Staniels, son of the
lady already mentioned, was presi-
dent. A good number of members,
with many ladies, were in attend-
ance. The monolith having been
inspected by a large party, the ser-
vices of formal dedication took place
in Merrimack hall, which was well
filled with an interested audience.
President Staniels called to order,
and, after prayer by the Reverend
George H. Dunlap, made the open-
ing address, which closed with the
following words addressed to Mayor Parsons B. Cogswell:

"It becomes, sir, my pleasant duty to present to the City of Con-
cord, through yourself as chief executive, and present custodian of its
interests, this beautiful memorial in the name of the donor, Miss
Annie M. Phelps, of Brookline, Massachusetts. it is hoped and

The Fort Burying Ground, now Old Fort Cemetery.

THE LAST POUND.

343

expected that as one of the landmarks of the city, it will be preserved
and cherished for the lesson it conveys ; that its influence will be
more than local ; inspiring to patriotism, love of liberty, and native
land, even unto the remotest generation."

The mayor having replied, and accepted the memorial in behalf of
the city of Concord, addresses were made by .Joseph B. Walker,
Amos Hadley, Thomas Cogswell, John H. Oberly, and Benjamin E.
Badger — and the pleasant occasion itself became history.

The Last Pound. Enclosures for the detention of stray or tres-
passing animals having been main-
tained from an early date, the town
now, in 1830, authorized the select-
men to contract for the building of
" a pound on the Poor Farm " at
West Concord. Zebediah W. Glea-
son contracted for and finished the
work, receiving, as the auditors of
that year reported, sixty-two dollars
and fifty cents "for building a stone
pound." This structure, the last of
its kind in Concord, had location on the premises mentioned, and on
the west side of the highway (the modern North State street), where,
though early disused, it was to stand the century through.

The Granite State. It is said that the name "Granite State" was
first applied to New Hampshire in a song by Colonel Carrigain, to be
sung at the Lafayette dinner, June 22, 1825, the first stanza of which
was —

" North, and South, and East, and West,
Grateful homage have expressed —
Greeting loud the nation's guest:

Son of Liberty ; —
Whom tyrants cursed — whom Heav'n approved —
And millions long have mourned and loved —
He comes, by fond entreaties moved,

The Granite State to see."

The Pound.

John Virgin. This eccentric character, commonly called " Uncle
John," was always proud of his war service with General Harrison of
" Tippecanoe " fame. Though in his later days he was an invalid, he
determined to live upon his pension of ninety-six dollars a year,
independently of everybody. For the last three years of his life he
dwelt alone in a little hut near Sugar Ball, where he was found on
the 24th of February, 1853, lying dead upon the floor, almost naked,
with one hand in the stove, and with lower limbs frozen. Dr.
Bouton (in History of Concord, 49(3-7) says of him : " He would

•°>44 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

occasionally visit the main village, where his haggard appearance, and
his loud, patriotic harangues always excited attention."

Captain Leonard's Artillery. 1812. The following Concord men
served in ( laptain John Leonard's Artillery Company : Keser C.
Powell, sergeant ; Samuel Powell, Jonathan Stevens, corporals ; Eben
Flanders, musician ; Solomon Mann, James Foster, Abial Bradley,
Jonathan Elliot, 3d, Jonathan F. Elliot, Benjamin C. Waldron,
Ebenezer Frye, Daniel Weeks, Benjamin York.

Captain Joseph Flanders' 's Company. 1813. The following men
from Concord were in Captain Joseph Flanders's Company : Marshall
Baker, lieutenant ; Ebenezer Frye, James and Samuel Emerson, Jona-
than and John Urann, Daniel Arlin, Jonathan B. Worth, Nathaniel
Parker, .lames Elliot.

Captain Nathaniel Gr. Bradley's Company. 181Jf. Concord sup-
plied the following officers and men to this company : Nathaniel G.
Bradley, captain ; Keser C. or Keyes B. Powell, sergeant ; Joseph
Hutchinson, Elijah Munsey, Robert Haynes, Enoch E. Bradley,
Willey Tasker, Loammi Reed, Amos Abbot, Hazen B. Elliot, Ben-
jamin Bradley.

Captain Edward Fuller s Company. 181Jf. In this company were
the following men from Concord : Reuben Osgood, corporal; John
Farnum, David Ivnowles, Joseph Glines, Ephraim and Jerry Abbot,
Barnard C. Elliott, Peter Powell, John Blanchard, Isaac Runnells,
Jeremiah N. Howe, Joseph F. Dow, Joseph Tasker, William Hoit, Jr.,
Hazen Kimball, Ephraim Pettengill.

Captain Peter Robertson's Artillery. I8I4. This company —
officers and men — was entirely supplied by Concord, as follows :
Peter Robertson, captain ; Samuel Herbert, 1st lieutenant ; Chandler
Eastman, 2d lieutenant ; Walter W. Hill, Jacob Hosman, John Rob-
ertson, William Bell, sergeants ; Jeremiah Birch, Nathaniel Parker,
Jeremiah Elliot, William Moody, corporals ; Jeremiah Glines, Harmon
Eastman, Samuel Hosmer, musicians; Moses Bumford, Moses East-
man, Jonathan Elliot, Josiah Fernald, Cooper Frost, Thomas Green-
leaf, Samuel Blanchard, Jacob Carter, Moses Dickernian, John Gould,
Josiah Knowles, Robert Rogers, John Stanyan, John AVheeler, Charles
Wait, Charles Whipple, Charles Herbert.

The Company of Volunteers. With Stephen Ambrose, captain,
other officers were chosen, as follows : Samuel Sparhawk, secretary
of state, 1st lieutenant; Nathaniel Ballard, 2d lieutenant; Ezra
Hutchins, ensign ; Dr. Moses Long, G. W. Rogers, Samuel Davis,
Samuel Runnells, sergeants. A majority of the more than one hun-
dred privates comprised some of the oldest and most respectable cit-
izens, among whom were : John Bradley, Charles Walker, William

DEATHS.

9 1 r *

Stickney, Captain Richard Ayer, Major Timotliy Chandler, Captain
Edmund Leavitt ; Captains John, Charles, and Jacob Eastman ; Jon-
athan Eastman, Jeremiah Pecker, Millen and Asa Kimball, Asa Gra-
ham, William A. Kent, Isaac Dow, John George, Philbrick Bradley,
Ballard Haseltine, John Garvin, and Daniel Clark.

First Fire Engine Company. The New Hampshire Register for 1811
contains the following statement:

"Concord Engine Co. — No. 1."

" Incorporated Dec, 1808. The annual meeting is holden on the
first Monday of October. Daniel Greenleaf, Captain; Abel Hutch-
ins, Clerk; James Ayer, Treasurer; Bowen Crehore, William Huse,
Timothy Butters, Trustees.' 1

Samuel F. B. Morse. ''Repeatedly have we been honored with
the presence among us of the late Professor S. F. B. Morse, who, we
are proud to say, came to us early in his illustrious career as a
painter of portraits, and who, leaving us, carried with him not only
the picture but the heart of the fairest of our daughters. After
he had completed his great invention of the electric telegraph and
entered on his wide-world fame, he came back to us, and asked the
privilege to look once more upon the very spot where he first met
and was introduced to the beautiful bride of his youth — Lucretia P.
Walker." [Dr. Bouton, in "Discourse on the Growth, etc., of Con-
cord," June 17, 1875.]

Passed Away. During the sixteen years embraced in this chapter
of the text, four citizens, whose names had been especially prominent
in former narration, passed away: In 1804 — September 1 — in his
ninety-first year, Philip Eastman, who accompanied his father Eben-
ezer in the earliest planting of Penacook, and took a leading part
in the business of the proprietors and in town affairs; in 1809—
January 26 — in his eightieth year, Colonel Thomas Stickney, who
filled places of important civil trust and duty in his town, and led
his regiment to victory at Bennington ; in 1815 — July 16 — in his
seventy-second year — John Bradley, conspicuous for half a century
in town affairs, and who had served repeatedly as a representative
in the legislature, and as a senator five years in succession, from 1804
to 1808 inclusive ; and, in 1815, on the 8th of December, at the age of
eighty-two, Colonel Gordon Hutchins, another honored citizen and
Revolutionary veteran, to whose useful and patriotic services preced-
ing pages have borne testimony.

CHAPTER XI.

The Town of Concord. — The State House Erected. — The
Toleration Act, with Consequent Separation of Church
and Town. — Merrimack County Formed. — Other Events
in Chronologic Order.

1816-1830.

The town house, which had accommodated the general court since
1.791, came, after nearly a quarter of a century, to he regarded as
quite inadequate to the purposes of a state house. Accordingly, at
the June session of 1814, a committee, appointed to consider the
subject, reported in favor of building a state house : declaring that
all the States of the Union, except New Hampshire, had provided
themselves with a state house, and "located a seat of government";
and that it was "derogatory to a respectable and independent State
to suffer the officers of its government to sit and transact the busi-
ness of the State in a building mean in its appearance, and destitute
of suitable accommodations. 1 ' A committee was thereupon raised,
consisting of John Harris, of Hopkinton, Benjamin Kimball, Jr., of
Concord, and Andrew Bowers, of Salisbury, to sit during recess,
designate a location, prepare a plan, ascertain the probable expense
of erection, receive proposals therefor, and report to the next legisla-
ture.

As instructed, the committee reported, in June, 1815, a plan, with
an estimate of thirty-two thousand dollars for expense of a building
of stone, according to an offer made by Stuart J. Park to complete
the structure for that sum. The majority of the committee — being
the members from Concord and Hopkinton — recommended the pro-
posed building to be located in Concord, near the town house, and
in a westerly direction therefrom. The report also announced that
the inhabitants of Salisbury would contribute seven thousand dollars
if the building should be located in that town. Thus, not so readily
as Hopkinton, did Salisbury acknowledge defeat in the contest to
become the capital of the state which had been settled in favor of
Concord, seven years before. The legislature then appointed another
committee to ascertain what appropriation would be made by Con-
cord, or its citizens, should the building be located in accordance
with the report just made. The committee found two local parties

ERECTION OF STATE HOUSE. :!47

of townsmen — the North End and the South End — contending, one
against the other. Each party was willing to contribute a satisfac-
tory sum, but to do so only upon condition that its own^favorite
site for the proposed capitol should be selected. One insisted upon
the "Town Hall or Stickney lot;" the other upon a "piece of
ground" down town, once belonging to Peter Green, the law} r er, and
hence distinguished as the "Green lot." The North Enders, while
making much of the fact that their lot had already been recom-
mended by a legislative committee, contrasted it, as elevated, dry,
and commanding a wide prospect, with the other, characterized by
them as "low and wet," — a "quagmire" even, — and needing ruin-
ous expenditure to render it fit for the purposes in view. The
South Enders, on the contrary, strenuously insisted upon their lot,
maintaining it to be more central, easier of access, and, consequently,
more eligible than the "sand heap" of their rivals. This disagree-
ment as to exact site, and the straitened condition of the treasury
owing to the recent war, caused the state house question to go over
to the next legislature.

A year having elapsed, the legislature, in .June, 1816, passed a res-
olution " that a State House, agreeably to the plan communicated by
Stuart J. Park, be erected in the town of Concord ; the spot of ground
to be selected, and the place on which to erect said State House to
be located, by His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable the
Council." The resolution also authorized the governor and council
to appoint a committee to make contracts, and to superintend the
erection, with instructions to begin the work as soon as practicable,
and to employ the convicts at the state prison in hewing the stone.
For commencing operations the sum of three thousand dollars was
appropriated. These provisions of the resolution were to be of effect
only upon condition that the town of Concord, or its inhabitants,
should " convey to the State of New Hampshire " a suitable building-
lot, " level and well prepare " the same, " give all " the necessary
stone, and " convey " it to the lot — all to be " performed free of any
charge or expense to the State." Having thus disposed of the mat-
ter, without settling the hotly contested question — one rather of
local than of public interest — whether the location of the state house
should be " north or south of a given line on the main street in Con-
cord," 1 the legislature, on the 29th of June, adjourned till Novem-
ber. The resolution of 1816, however, fully confirmed that of 1807,
whereby the session of 1808 was held in Concord, and really made it
the capital of the state.

Within a week after this adjournment, Governor William Plumer

1 Life of William Plumer, cited in McClintock's New Hampshire, 542.

34<S HISTORY OF CONCOKD.

and his council proceeded to take action under the legislative resolve.
The two contending parties of townsmen had been active in efforts
to influence opinion in and out of the legislature ; had made liberal
subscriptions — that of the South End amounting to four thousand
dollars — and now each bound itself to comply with the terms im-
posed by the legislature, if its favorite site should be selected. ( )n
the 3d of July the North End bond was presented to the governor
and council by Charles Walker, and that of the South End by
William A. Kent and Isaac Hill. One of the councilors, Colonel
Samuel Quarles of ( )ssipee, had leave of absence for that day and
was away on private business. The governor and the four remain-
ing councilors, acting as a committee, duly examined lots and pro-
ceeded by ballot to make selection ; no one objecting to so doing,
though the governor asked each of the councilors if he was ready
thus to proceed. The " Green lot " was selected by a vote of three
to two — the governor and two of the council constituting the ma-
jority. The next day, upon the return of Colonel Quarles, who
favored the " Stickney lot," a motion was made to reconsider " the
vote of yesterday, selecting a lot of land whereon to erect a State
House,*" but it failed by the vote of three to three, which clenched
the decision of the day before. With a sense of relief, doubtless, did
Governor Plumer jot down in his private diary, under date of July
4th, 1816, the brief record, " Fixed the site for the State House."
On the following day the governor and council appointed three Con-
cord men, Albe Cady, William Low, and Jeremiah Pecker, as a com-
mittee on contracts and of superintendence, and adjourned till Sep-
tember.

This committee entered upon its duties with commendable prompt-
ness. Stuart J. Park, whose original plan of the proposed structure
had been approved by the legislature, and whose skill as a builder
had been tested in the erection of the state prison, was appointed
chief architect, with Levi Brigham, of Boston, for assistant. The
entire " plot " of two acres having been purchased as a present to the
state, beginning was at once made to prepare it for its new use.
Thus, Captain Peter Robertson's house, standing on the northeast
corner, was sold to William Kent, and removed to Pleasant street ;
the Friend's meeting-house, occupying another part, was transferred
up State street to a location given by Benjamin Hannaford, north of
and near the burying ground ; and preliminary steps were taken " to
level" and otherwise transform the selected site into a park suitable
for the state capitol. Moreover, initial steps were forthwith taken
towards the actual construction of the building ; and the granite,
which was to be its material, was soon beginning to be hewn by con-

ERECTION OF STATE HOUSE. 349

victs at the state prison, under the special oversight and instruction
of John Park Gass, nephew of the chief architect, and afterwards
Concord's famous taverner. On the 24th of September, 181(3, the
corner-stone of the capitol was laid.

Though it could not have seemed probable that, with the work
upon the state house and its grounds thus progressing, a change of
location could be effected, yet those who had been disappointed at
the selection of the site were clamoring angrily thereat all the while
till the November session of the legislature. They asserted that a
location had never been " made agreeably to the true meaning " of
the legislative resolve ; since — as they charged — contrary to the in-
tention of the legislature, the governor and council had not, in
deciding the matter, voted separately in executive board, but together
in committee ; and since, too, this action had been taken in the ab-
sence of one councilor, contrary to an agreement to await his return.
Now, the case was, that with all six present, to act as a committee or
an executive board, and with three of the five councilors in favor of
the North End lot, the governor could, in executive board, by voting
with the minority, in his right to negative the majority, have pre-
vented a selection ; but, in the absence of one favoring that lot,
the governor would have had no vote in executive board, — there
being no majority to negative, — while in committee he had one of the
three votes to make up the majority for the South End lot.

During the recess the North Enders succeeded in stirring up
considerable feeling in their favor among members of the legislature,
so that at the November session an investigating committee was
appointed, to whose inquiries the governor replied that he did not
understand that any agreement had been made to delay proceedings
on account of the absence of Colonel Quarles, and produced clear
evidence that there was none, though the three defeated councilors,
with less clearness and definiteness of proof, asserted the contrary.
The governor also made answer that he and his council, in making
the selection, had acted as a committee appointed by legislative re-
solve, and not in their executive capacity, a statement sustained by a
majority of the council. The house of representatives, notwithstand-
ing an adverse report of the investigating committee, sustained the
governor, and on the 25th of December, not only killed a resolution
to take from the governor and council the power of appointing the
building committee, but passed another, by a vote of ninety-one to
seventy, appropriating four thousand dollars towards the erection of
the building.

Thus discouraged by adverse legislative action, the unprofitable
controversy came to an end, and the work of construction went on

350 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

undisturbed. By the 18th of July, 1818, such progress had been
made that the gilded eagle to crown the dome was raised to its place
with public ceremony. A procession having formed in front of the
state house, under direction of Major Robertson, passed down State
street, and returning entered the capitol, where an address was made
by Philip Carrigain. Refreshments were served and toasts were
drunk amid cheers and the firing of cannon, with a band, at intervals,
playing appropriate airs. Of the toasts, the thirteenth was the cli-
max, and in phrase patriotic enough, albeit somewhat more " spread-
eagle " than the six-foot golden image of the bird, with partially
expanded wings, upon the dome, ran thus : " The American eagle-
May the shadow of his wings protect every acre of our united Conti-
nent, and the lightning of his eye flash terror and defeat through the
ranks of our enemies." 1

The work went forward to its completion in 1819, with a total
expenditure much exceeding the early estimate, and reaching nearly
eighty-two thousand dollars, for building, furniture, fencing, prepar-
ing the lot, supplying the stone, and hauling the same ; the last
three items, amounting to four thousand dollars, having been con-
tributed by citizens of Concord. In June of that year the general
court commenced its sessions in the new capitol, 2 and Governor
Samuel Bell, in his inaugural message, uttered these words of con-
gratulation : " The splendid public edifice in which you now for the
first time assemble will add another honorable testimonial to future
ages of the enlightened public spirit and liberal views of the citizens
of New Hampshire. It reflects honor upon the Legislature, and
upon that enlightened Chief Magistrate under whose auspices it was
erected, and who has now retired from an office, the duties of which
he has discharged with honor and usefulness."

The next year, the three Concord men, Cady, Low, and Pecker,
who constituted the building committee, and had faithfully and suc-
cessfully performed their responsible duties, were honorably dis-
charged. The comely and convenient edifice, with its pleasant
grounds, became an object of interest not only within the state, but
in other parts of the country, so that within one year from the 1st
of July, 1819, "six thousand eight hundred and seventy-two persons
visited it, and were shown its apartments." It was praised by visi-
tors, some of whom had traveled extensively, as " a very elegant
stone edifice," and "one of the handsomest buildings in the United
States." Praise of the capitol became even an inculcation for early
childhood, for in a little educational work, entitled "A Book for New-
Hampshire Children, in Familiar Letters from a Father," — the first

1 Bouton's Concord, 376. J See frontispiece in this volume.

THE POST-OFFICE. 351

of several editions of which was published four years after the com-
pletion of the state house, — is found the following description, ex-
pressed in simple style to suit " the infant understanding " : " The
State House is the grandest building in New Hampshire. It is built
of hewn stone, almost as beautiful as white marble. The body of
the house is much higher and longer than any meeting-house you
ever saw. The windows are of the largest glass, with mahogany
sashes. The front of the building has a noble projection and pedi-
ment with a large elegant door ; and the whole is set off with a most
beautiful cupola, with a great gold eagle on the top of it. There is
a very large and beautiful yard in front of the State House, with a
wide and smooth gravel walk up to it. I have seen many elegant
buildings in the course of my life ; but I never saw one so elegant as
the State House."

With such appreciation from abroad, and the evident natural ten-
dency of events, the people of Concord themselves might well look
with pride upon the capitol, and with satisfying assurance as well,
that its erection upon their soil would date a new era of progress and
prosperity in the history of the town.

The strife over the location of the capitol had been warmer than
the weather in the spring, summer, and autumn months of the year
1816, as the designations, "the cold season " and "the poverty year,"
denote. Indeed, it had almost seemed that the polar circle had slip-
ped to the tropic, making of the temperate zone the frigid. This
abnormal atmospheric condition prevailed over New Hampshire and
the rest of New England. Snow fell in June, and killing frosts came
in every month save August. Indian corn could not ripen, the crop
of other cereals nearly failed, apples and other fruits came to naught.
In consequence, " there was," as Asa McFarland has recorded, " a
real lack of food throughout New Hampshire in the autumn and
winter of 1816—17." ! Even in Concord there was privation ; and
the scarcity of provisions, with consequent high prices, caused some
suffering among the poor, which the Female Charitable Society, then
four years old, contributed to relieve.

The same year the post-office was removed southward from the
extreme North End, where it had hitherto been kept by David George,
to an ancient building, soon afterwards remodeled into a dwelling by
John West, and standing on the west side of Main street, opposite the
site subsequently occupied by the Merrimack County bank, and later
by the New Hampshire Historical society. The removal was made
by Lieutenant Joseph Low, who had come from service in the recent
war to dwell in Concord, and had succeeded to the postmastership in

1 In "An Outline of Biography and Recollection."

352 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

1816. After tlie completion of the state house, in 1819, he removed
the post-office still farther southward to a store on the east side of
Main street, opposite the foot of School, on the site of the later Rum-
ford block, and next south of his residence. General Low, — for he
became adjutant-general of the state in 1820, — having held the office
of postmaster for thirteen years, was succeeded in 1829 by his elder
brother, William, who took the office across the street to his own
premises on the north side of School street, near its junction with Main.
The new quarters became known as the " Old Post-Office Building,"
and were occupied by Mr. Low for eleven years, and by later post-
masters for a dozen more. Besides these homes the post-office was
to find, in the course of years, others at various points between a
line at a short distance south of Centre street, and one along the
south side of School street — but never, as during the first nineteen
years of the century, north of the line of contention between the
North End and the South End.

In the spring of 181(3 the Republicans had regained control of the
state government, and, in the autumn, at the eighth presidential elec-
tion, they chose electors to cast eight of the one hundred and eighty-
three votes which made James Monroe president ; Rufus King, the
Federal candidate, having received but thirty-four. Concord, how-
ever, was still upon the Federal side, and remained there for three
years longer.

The suspension of party hostilities in the national field of polities,
which generally prevailed during the administration of Monroe, had
a pleasant beginning in the president's tour through the Northern
states in the summer of 1817. The appropriate demonstrations of
honor for the man and his high office which were shown every where,
and by all, without distinction of party, fitly inaugurated "the era of
good feeling." That tour included Concord in its course, where the
president's reception 1 was marked by enthusiastic cordiality, and
where he tarried from Friday the 18th to Monday the 21st of July.

The Dartmouth college controversy, beginning in 1815 and con-
tinuing until 1819, has more than a passing interest in the history of
Concord. Two of its prominent citizens, Thomas W. Thompson and
the Rev. Dr. Asa McFarland, of the board of college trustees, were
upon one side of the controversy, while, upon the other side, their
townsman, Isaac Hill, in his influential newspaper, earnestly support-
ed the cause of those who sought to change the charter of the insti-
tution. Politics as well as religious preferences entered into the con-
troversy and kept the question before the people for several years. In
1815 the dissatisfaction long existing, from various causes, between

1 See description in a special chapter.

THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 353

John Wheelock, the president of Dartmouth college, on the one part,
and the trustees and members of the faculty of that institution on the
other, reached an acute stage. The president memorialized the legis-
lature, setting forth his grievances, charging the trustees with im-
proper " acts and operations," and praying that a committee might be
appointed "to look into the affairs and management of the institution,
internal and external." The legislature, against the strong opposi-
tion of the trustees, granted the prayer of the president by a vote of
more than two to one. The legislative committee of investigation
proceeded to duty, and, on the 16th of August, gave hearing to the
contending parties ; but only ten days later, and with the legislative
inquiry still pending, the trustees removed Dr. Wheelock from the
presidency, which he had held for thirty-six years, and chose as his
successor the Reverend Francis Brown, only thirty-one years of age,
but of sufficient capacity for the position even in days of severest
trial.

After this summary action of the trustees, the "College question"
soon became a prominent one in the public mind. Its two sides had
each strenuous partisans. Upon this new issue which had got into
politics, Isaac Hill, the Republican editor of the Patriot, and William
Plumer, the Republican candidate for governor in 1816, stood to-
gether. The openly asserted views of the latter were the views of
the Republican party. These were, that, as the college charter of
1769 " emanated from royalty, it contained principles congenial to
monarchy " — among others, in having " established trustees, made
seven a quorum, and authorized a majority of those present to remove
members " considered " unfit or incapable, and the survivors to per-
petuate the board by electing others to supply vacancies ; " 1 that " this
last principle " being " hostile to the spirit and genius of a free gov-
ernment, sound policy " required " that the mode of election should
be changed, that trustees, in future, should be elected by some other
body of men," and that their number should be increased, so as not
only to " increase the security of the college, but to be a means of
interesting more men in its prosperity " ; that " the college was
formed for the public good, not for the benefit or emolument of its
trustees, and that the right to amend and improve acts of incorpora-
tion of this nature " had " been exercised by all governments, both
monarchical and republican." l The acceptance of such ideas was pro-
moted by a prevalent impression that the management of the college
unduly favored the "standing order,'* or Congregational denomination.

These views were opposed by the body of Federalists, who main-
tained that they involved an unconstitutional interference of the state

1 Governor Plumer's message, June 6, 1816.

354 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

with chartered rights of the college and its trustees, impairing the

obligations of a contract, such as the charter was ; 1 that such inter-
ference as came within the scope of Republican views would, if con-
stitutional, " destroy the former corporation, and consequently endan-
ger the funds belonging to the college " ; that " the college " was " in
a prosperous condition, and no necessity " existed " for any legisla-
tive interference whatever " ; and that " the inevitable tendency " of
such interference was " to make the highest seat of literature and
science in the state subject to every change and revolution of party,
than which nothing could be more destructive to its welfare.'.' ]

The Republican party having won a complete victory in the state
election, the legislature met in June with a majority ready to adopt
the recommendations of Governor Plumer upon the college question.
On the 27th of June an act was passed to " amend the charter, and
enlarge the corporation of Dartmouth College." By this, and a sup-
plementary act passed at the following November session, provision
was made for increasing the number of trustees from twelve to
twenty-one, and for creating a board of twenty-five overseers ; appoint-
ments to either board or the filling of vacancies to belong to the gov-
ernor and council. The name of the corporation was also changed
from Dartmouth College to Dartmouth University ; and it was also
expressly provided that perfect freedom of religious opinions should
be enjoyed by students and officers of the university.

Against this enactment Thomas W. Thompson and Asa McFarland
had, in behalf of the trustees, presented and urged able remon-
strances. Moreover, the idea of establishing a new college at Con-
cord, on principles of the most liberal religious toleration, and under
the full control of the state, was favorably entertained by many — an
idea which, it had been vainly hoped by the trustees and their friends,
might work such a division of sentiment among their opponents in
the legislature as would prevent such radical adverse legislation as
was actually accomplished in 1816. The idea of creating such a col-
lege, and locating it near the center of the state, was to survive the
Dartmouth controversy ; for in 1822 a law was passed levying a tax
of one half of one per cent, upon banking capital to create a Literary
Fund for the endowment of such an institution. Some years later,
however, or in 1828, the college idea was given up, and the fund,
already accumulated or thereafter to accumulate, was ordered to be
distributed to the towns for the use of common schools — and thus
Concord missed becoming a university town.

In the August following the passage of the college university act,
a majority of the old board of trustees, including President Brown,

1 Protest of minority in house, June 28, 1816.

THE DARTMOUTH COLLEGE CASE. 355

declined to convene with new members whom the governor and coun-
cil had appointed to complete the filling of the university board ; they
also removed William H. Woodward, a fast friend of Dr. Wheelock,
from the office of secretary and treasurer, and formally refused to
accept the provisions of the recent statute, or in any way to act under
it. They were determined not to do anything whereby the college
could be construed as merged in the university ; for they were reason-
ably confident that, without their consent, the act of June could not
be constitutionally enforced, and such merger wrought. Hence,
when a quorum of the university trustees convened, on the "2 2d of
February, 1817, " at the hall, commonly called Masons' Hall, over
the Bank, at the southerly end of the Main Street, in Concord, in the
county of Rockingham," as the governor expressed it in his summons,
Dartmouth college was not represented by trustees or faculty. Where-
upon, the university trustees removed by vote President Brown and
three other trustees of the college, including Dr. McFarland of Con-
cord, together with two professors, all of whom had refused to appear
then and there as summoned. Dr. Wheelock, though lying on his
death-bed, and within seven weeks of his end, was elected president
of the university, with his son-in-law, Professor Allen, to act in his
stead ; William H. Woodward was chosen secretary, and the faculty
was filled by the choice of two professors, one of whom was Nathaniel
H. Carter of Concord. Thus Dartmouth University was organized.
Now, the trustees and faculty of Dartmouth college, upon being
cited to appear at the meeting just mentioned, had at once deter-
mined to take decisive action towards testing their rights, and the
constitutionality of the college act, by bringing suit against their late
secretary and treasurer for the recovery of " books of record, original
charter, common seal, and other corporate property of the college. "
Forthwith, they entered in the court of common pleas for Grafton
county, at the February term of 1817, their famous action, "The
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. William H. Woodward/' They
temporarily surrendered to the university authorities the college
buildings, but they took with them most of the students to other
quarters, where was pursued the usual collegiate work for two years,
pending the final decision of their case in the supreme court of the
United States. That decision came in 1819, reversing that of the
highest court of New Hampshire, and declaring the legislation of
1816 in question, unconstitutional, and consequently null and void.
Dartmouth university was no more ; but Dartmouth college still
lived — and would live with a long future of blessing and honor ever
opening before her. So ended the controversy which had widely,
deeply, and, to some extent, unprofitably, excited the public mind in

35b' HISTORY OF CONCORD.

New Hampshire; unduly stirring up, by the bitter invective of
newspaper and other discussion, personal, political, and religious
animosities — to which fact, fortunately, allusion only is necessary

here.

Rather, belongs here mention of a gifted sun of Concord — the
"accomplished scholar and gentleman,"' 1 Nathaniel Haseltine Carter

who held the "Professorship of Languages" in the short-lived

Dartmouth university. He came to that position at the age of
thirty, having been born on the 17th of September, 1787, at the
homestead on the Iron Works road, near Turkey river, upon the
farm many years later to be named the "Moreland." His father,
Joseph Carter, being a man of some financial means, had been able
to assist in gratifying the desire of his son for liberal educational
training, academic and collegiate. He had been graduated at Dart-
mouth in 1811, and then for six years had taught in various places-
including his native town — till called to the university. When that
institution ceased to exist he removed to the state of New York,
where he read law, but soon found journalism more congenial to
his finely cultured literary tastes. His newspaper — The New York
Statesman — which he conducted in Albany and New York city,
" under the auspices of DeWitt Clinton " 2 and other leading men of
that day, was eminently distinguished for ability, " candor, and lit-
erary merits." 2 His reputation as an accomplished writer of prose
was enhanced by his two volumes of " Letters from Europe," em-
bodying the observations of a journey made in the years 1825 and
1826. Moreover, he had poetical genius, and his thought was accus-
tomed to seek expression in verse, the musical and inspired strains
of which suggest that he had found a loving muse beside his "native
stream " — that " scene," as he has sung, of his " boyhood's earliest
dream." In 1824 he, who five years before had been of the faculty
of the rival university, delighted Dartmouth college with his thought-
ful, elaborate poem, entitled " The Pains of Imagination," read before
the Phi Beta Kappa society of his Alma Mater. This effort, with
other poetry, found publication in book form three years later. But
his life was not to be long ; his winters had to be spent in the sunny
Antilles. In the autumn of 1828 Mr. Carter paid his last visit to
his native and beloved town, where he was received with cordial wel-
come and marked respect and honor. ( )f one incident of that visit,
Dr. Bouton, who was then in his early pastoral service, has thus
written: "He attended church for the last time in the old North
meeting-house, where his pale face, emaciated form, and brilliant eye
attracted the notice and awakened the sympathy of the preacher, to

» Alumni of Dartmouth College, 152. 2 Bouton's Concord, 585.

THE TOLERATION ACT. 857

him then a stranger." 1 Again, and in farewell, he trod "the wild
and sylvan shore " of the little river, dear to him, and to which, in
touching- apostrophe, he addressed his finest poem, entitled "To My
Native Stream " —a production which has, to the appreciative imagi-
nation, cast over the commonplace stream such charm of beauty as
only true poetic genius can. Now he had bidden farewell to the
home of his childhood and youth, and in the autumn of the next year.
by the advice of his plrysicians, sailed for the south of France. On
the second day of January, 1830, soon after his arrival at Mar-
seilles, and in the forty-third year of his age, he breathed the last
breath of a life of rich fruition and richer promise.

The question of religious toleration, incidentally arising in the col-
lege controversy, had for some time been agitated throughout the
state. Under the ancient statute of 1714, virtually reaffirmed in
1791, "the Congregational clergy had been originally settled by the
towns or parishes where they preached, and the inhabitants of the
towns were all taxed for their support." 2 With increase of popula-
tion and of dissent from the faith and practice of the "standing
order," this system, which had been of good intention and of good
results in the earlier days of practical unanimity in religious views,
gradually outgrew its usefulness and became oppressive. The scope
and intent of the system were to compel attendance upon " the pub-
lic worship of God on the Lord's day," under the preaching of a
tk settled minister," to whose salary, agreed upon by a majority in
town-meeting, the attendant must contribute in taxation ; non-com-
pliance with these requisitions to be tolerated only on proof that
one was " conscientiously of a different persuasion," and " constantly
attended public- worship according to that persuasion." Such strin-
gency of requisition, with its growing tendency to provoke resistance,
involving burdensome litigation and other harassments, could not but
give way before liberal and enlightened thought. The demand for
more reasonable legislation slowly grew more and more imperative
through the advancing years. At length, in 1816, the Reverend Dan
Young of Lisbon, a Methodist minister, and for five successive terms
a member of the state senate, presented a bill in that body, repealing
the old laws, and providing that houses of worship should be built,
and ministers of the gospel hired, exclusively by voluntary associa-
tion. At that session, and the two annual sessions following, the
measure failed of enactment. But the number of its friends steadily
increased till, in 1819, it passed in a perfected form presented by Dr.
Thomas Whipple, of Wentworth, a leading member of the house of
representatives. It passed at the first legislative session held in the

1 Bouton's Concord, 585. 2 Life of William Plnmer, 185.

358 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

new capitol, and after as able a discussion as would ever take place
within its walls.

This Toleration Act prescribed that all religious denominations in
the state might form societies of voluntary membership, having all
the corporate powers necessary to raise money by taxes upon the
polls and ratable estate of the members for providing houses of pub-
lic worship and for supporting the gospel ministry. But in con-
sequence of a remarkable unanimity of religious sentiment existing
in Concord for long years from the beginning, the compulsory
support of the gospel never produced the dissatisfaction and con-
sequent troubles experienced in many other places. Dissent came
late, and with gradual and comparatively unaggressive approaches.
Denominational uniformity was scarcely rippled by the quiet pres-
ence of a small society of Friends that existed here after 1805,
and worshipped in its own meeting-house after 1814. It was not
until 1816 that Philbrick Bradley opened his house on the "Moun-
tain " to the yet unorganized Methodists for occasional preach-
ing. In course of the two years next preceding the passage of the
Toleration Act, two church organizations were effected here — one by
the Episcopalians, the other by the Calvinistic Baptists : the former,
in 1817, with eighteen members; the latter in 1818, with fourteen.
Nor was there any hurry in Concord to dispense with the old sys-
tem ; for it was not till the 9th of March, 1825, — nearly six years
after the passage of the Toleration Act, — that the town, at the
written request of the Rev. Dr. McFarland himself, then in failing-
health, annulled by vote his " civil contract with the town," at the
end of his twenty-seventh ministerial year. Though thus, after
ninety-five years, the town in its corporate capacity ceased to pro-
vide for the support of the ministry, yet it voted that " the Rev. Dr.
McFarland have leave to cut firewood sufficient for his own use, on
the Parsonage land the current year; and also have," for the same
time, " the use of the improved lands " belonging to the town. Nearly
two years later, on the 18th of February, 1827, came to its end, in its
fifty-eighth year, the life of Concord's third minister, so diligently and
fruitfully blessing church and town for more than a quarter of a cen-
tury.

The minister's request that his contract with the town should be
closed had been made on the 11th of July, 1824, whereupon a new
society was organized under the Toleration Act, on the 29th of the
same month, composed of two hundred and twenty-three taxable mem-
bers — including " nearly all the descendants of the original settlers
living in town." 2 During the following autumn, Nathaniel Bouton,

1 See Change of Constitution, etc., of Society in note at close of chapter.

THE TOLERATION ACT. 359

twenty-five years of age, a native of Xorwalk, Conn., a graduate of
Yale, and very recently of Andover Theological seminary, served
upon invitation seven weeks as a candidate for the pulpit. On the
24th of December he received from the church a unanimous call to
become its pastor. This call, having been six days later unani-
mously concurred in by the society, was accepted ; and at a council
held on the 23d of March, 1825, the pastoral relation of Dr. Mc-
Farland having been dissolved, the Reverend Nathaniel Bouton was
ordained to the ministry of the First Congregational Church and So-
ciety of Concord — a ministry to continue more than forty years with
a church and society whose years would be measured in centuries.
But the detailed story of the " Old North," and of other chnrches
—either of the same or of different faith and practice — for the ensu-
ing three fourths of a century will be told in a special chapter of this
history.

The minister's salary of seven hundred and fifty dollars — being-
more than twice that which had hitherto been usually paid — indi-
cated that voluntary associated contribution would more liberally
support the gospel ministry than would compulsory town taxation —
a fact that proved universally true. And it may be worth noting
here, that the town had, under the old system, sometimes practically
recognized the principle of voluntary contribution in eking out an
inadequate ministerial salary. Thus, for years after 1811, in mak-
ing appropriation to supply the pulpit, about one hundred and fifty
dollars were added to the usual three hundred and fifty, with the
proviso that " no person be compelled to pay his proportion " of the
sum additional. 1

Under the new order of things a committee, consisting of William
A. Kent, Joseph Walker, and Abel Hutchins, was appointed in
March, 1826, " to take into consideration the subject of selling the
interest or right the town " might " have in the meeting-house, to
the First Congregational Society in Concord." 2 The subsequent
report of the committee estimated the town's interest in the meeting-
house at two hundred dollars ; in the land on which the meeting-
house stood, measuring six rods, north, south, east, and west, to the
original reserve for a road, at three hundred dollars ; and in the bell,
at three hundred dollars. The estimate was accepted, and the
town's interest was accordingly sold to the society for eight hun-
dred dollars. 3 The claim of three hundred dollars for the bell was,
however, subsequently relinquished; and in 1829 the town ordered
the remaining five hundred dollars to be divided among the incorpo-
rated religious societies, as was the interest of the Parsonage Fund.

i Town Records, 469. s Bouton's Concord, 387.

•Town Records (manuscript).

360 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

It will be recollected that along with the original allotment of
lands on the west side of the river, in 172(3, to the hundred proprie-
tors, special assignments were made for the " Minister," the " Par-
sonage/' and the "School" — each containing a "house-lot" of an
acre and a half, and a "home-lot" of six acres, more or less. To the
one hundred and three allotments grants were severally made in
after years from the common and undivided lands, under such titles
as the "Twenty Acres' Division," the "Emendation Lots," the
"Eighty Acres' Division," the "Twenty Acres' Grant," and the
" Last Division." The "Parsonage" allotment was entirely distinct
from the " Ministerial ; " and its " house-lot," which, in part, became
by lease, in 1820, 1 the site of the schoolhouse in the Eleventh School
District, was never occupied as the home of the minister. The
Parsonage lands, however, contributed to the support of the minis-
try. It having now become necessary, under the operation of the
Toleration Act, to make some disposition of those lands lying in
various parts of the town, a committee was raised in March, 1826,
consisting of Joseph Walker, Robert Davis, and Jeremiah Pecker, to
sell them, and to secure the proceeds of the sales as a permanent
f Lm d — the interest of which should " be applied to the purposes for
which said lands were reserved." 2 Promptly, on the twenty-second
of the following April, the committee sold at auction most of the
lands 3 for #5,335.61. This sum constituted the original Parsonage
fund, but was subsequently increased — mainly by land sold — to
$5,623.01.4 l n 1828 the town established by vote the following
rule for disposing of the interest annually accruing upon the fund :
" That the selectmen request each man in town to designate annually
the incorporated religious society in Concord, which supports the
preaching of the gospel, to which his proportion of the interest of
the ministerial fund — according to the amount of his tax on poll
and estate — shall be paid ; that the selectmen divide the interest
accordingly ; " and that, in case any persons did not choose to desig-
nate to what society their proportion should go, the same should be
divided equally among all the societies.

The next year William A. Kent, Robert Davis, and Joseph Low
were appointed to invest the principal of the fund in bank or
other public stocks, as they should judge it to be for the interest
of the town. Thirteen shares of Concord bank stock were taken at
$1,326.25. This was lost, about the year 1840, through the failure
of the bank ; but with other investments — including a loan to the
town of #3,231.99 on certificates of the selectmen, the fund amounted

1 Bouton's Concord, 369.

= Ibid, 387.

'See Sale of Parsonage Lands in note at close of chapter.

* Asa Fowlers Report in Proceedings of Town Meeting, 1851, p. 26.

THE TOLERATION ACT. :> »»>1

in 1850 to $4,296. 76. 1 The town loan was subsequently increased
to $3,896.16. Thus the interest upon the fund came from an assumed
municipal debt, and reached annually the sum of about two hun-
dred and eighty dollars. This had to be raised by general taxation,
and distributed to fifteen or more religious societies, and in sums so
small as to be of little benefit. Indeed, the advantage derived hardly
compensated the trouble of apportionment — a trouble that was con-
stantly increasing with the influx of new taxpayers and the establish-
ment of new religious societies. Besides, there was reason to doubt
the legality and constitutionality of the system that really compelled
the taxpayers to contribute to the support of religious societies of
which they were not members, and of religious persuasions not their
own. It was, therefore, wisely determined, about the year 1875, to
dispense with appropriation and distribution under the head of the
parsonage fund, and to close all accounts therewith.

AVhen, in 1825, the Toleration Act went into effect in Concord,
the population of the town was about three thousand ; the census of
1820 counting two thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight inhabi-
tants against two thousand three hundred and ninety-three in 1810,
and three thousand seven hundred and two in 1830. Its rank in
population was the sixth in the state ; Portsmouth, Dover, Gilman-
ton, Sanbornton, and Londonderry being in advance. But in the
prestige that attracts and the qualities that promote healthy growth
and eminent prosperity, the town was second to none. Long a legis-
lative center of the state government, it had now become a judicial
one; for in 1823 the county of Merrimack was formed of twenty-
three towns severed from the northerly parts of Rockingham and
Hillsborough counties, with Concord designated as the shire town.
Thus had come, at last, long-desired relief, — especially for the Rock-
ingham towns, — from the inconvenience of attending courts in places
so remote as Exeter and Portsmouth. Hopkinton, which had been
a half-shire town of Hillsborough county, but was now within the
new jurisdiction, retained the old jail till 1852, when the new one
was provided within the limits of Concord. 2

The citizens of the new county seat, who had given six hundred
and twenty-two votes in the affirmative to six in the negative, upon
the question of forming the county of Merrimack, were not backward
in complying with the terms imposed by the legislature as to provid-
ing accommodation for the courts. The following vote was forthwith
passed in a special town-meeting : " That the town so far comply with
the act of the legislature of June session, 1822, as to remove the
town-house back, turn it end to the road, raise it one story, ami com-

1 Asa Fowler's Report in Proceedings of Town Meeting, 1851, p. 26.
2 Bouton's Concord, 492.

362 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

plete it to the acceptance of the justices of the superior court — pro-
vided Mr. Stickney will give the land which may be necessary for
this purpose ; and provided, also, that one third of the expense of
removing and repairing said house be defrayed by individual sub-
scription." : Jeremiah Pecker, Robert Davis, and Joseph Low were
appointed superintendents of the work, and eight hundred dollars
were appropriated towards carrying it out. 1 Straightway the one-
storied structure, which for more than thirty years had served as
a town house, and during a part of that period as a state house,
was moved westward a short distance up the slope, to stand, in
a more eligible location, capped by its second story, and with its
modestly colonnaded " end " turned " to the road," or Main street.
The second story accommodated the courts of the new county. The
north and south rooms of the first story — as the building originally
stood facing eastward lengthwise — now became one town hall. The
former of the two rooms, and the larger, had been both a representa-
tives' and a town hall. It had also been used for other purposes,
secular and religious ; notably among the latter being the regular
Sunday evening services held there in course of the ministry of Dr.
McFarland, at which the faithful pastor was accustomed to preach
his third sermon for the day, after the delivery of his two stated dis-
courses from the pulpit of the " Old North." 2 The other room, or
the senate chamber, had also been variously occupied, particularly,
however, as it seems, for select schools. Thus, the Reverend Joshua
Abbot, a native of Concord, and a son of Captain Joshua Abbot, con-
ducted there, for a few years, a school on the Lancasterian system, as
he subsequently did at Norfolk, Virginia, where he died in 1824. Of
the system, a Concord pupil, writing in old age, briefly says, " that it
combined pleasure with instruction." 3

The one room resulting from the union of the two was to answer
the specific purpose of a town hall in the transaction of municipal
business for thirty years more, though at an increasing disadvantage,
from proving too small to accommodate the steady increase of the
voting population. But it answered other purposes, and many. " In
this room," as one has racily said, " were enacted scenes that assumed
all the characteristics of the kaleidoscope. It was, emphatically, a
free hall. In it were enacted all kinds of transactions, from a free
tight to a conference meeting; from a prosy sermon to a violent polit-
ical harangue. All kinds of religions were inculcated and enforced
there. The old hall welcomed all kinds of isms, at all times, upon
all subjects, and upon all occasions."

1 Bouton's Concord, 370.

* Ibid, 583.

3 Woodbridge Odlin, in Concord Monitor, March 28, 1884.

POLITICAL MATTERS. : >»'> : '>

In the new upper room of the building was held, in January,
1824, the first term of the Superior Court of Judicature for Merri-
mack county— the first, too, of any duly established court of law
ever held in Concord. The town supplied one of the justices of that
court in the person of Samuel Green, spoken of in an earlier chapter.
During the session, an association of the Merrimack County bar was
organized, and the event was celebrated by a supper served at the
Columbian hotel, then in charge of John P. Gass. This general
sketch will not dwell upon the participation of Concord in the doings
of bench and bar in that first court house, for thirty years, and
thenceforward, in the second, but leaves that subject to be especially
treated in its own chapter.

After the war, and in course of the two terms of Monroe's adminis-
tration, the Federal party became disbanded, and the Republican party
was dominant in the state without organized opposition for most of
that period. But by 1823 some division had come into the Repub-
lican ranks, and at the state election of that year two candidates
for governor, one regular and the other irregular, were in the field.
Large numbers of former Federalists voted for Levi Woodbury, the
irregular nominee, who was elected over Samuel Dinsmoor, the regu-
lar. The Republicans of Concord were divided in their support of
the nominees, and, as the New Hampshire Patriot, then in sole occu-
pancy of the field of political journalism at the capital, was vigorously
advocating Dinsmoor's election, Woodbury's friends had determined
to have a newspaper to represent their views. Hence, on the 6th of
January, 1823, the New Hampshire Statesman had appeared. 1 The
next year (1824) Judge Woodbury was again a candidate, but, there
being no choice by the people, the legislature elected his competitor,
David L. Morril, then of Goffstown, but afterwards of Concord.

The tenth presidential election came in 1824, with its four candi-
dates : John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford,
and Henry Clay — all bearing the Republican name. In Concord, the
Patriot advocated the election of Crawford, while the Statesman and
the Concord Register, 1 another newspaper recently started by the
veteran George Hough, and edited by George Kent and George Kim-
ball, supported Adams, for whom New Hampshire went. Jackson
stood highest on the electoral count, with Adams standing next ; but
the choice of president having been thrown into the national house
of representatives, Adams was elected.

During the heated political contest, amid the loud and discordant
campaign cries for and against Adams and Crawford, Clay and Jack-
son, General Lafayette arrived on his last visit to America. In his

1 See additional particulars in special chapter on Journalism, etc.

364 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

triumphal progress through the twenty-four states of the Union, the
harsh voices of partisan politics, whenever and wherever the patriot
of two hemispheres appeared, became softened and attuned to harmo-
nious acclaims of welcome. His visit to the capital of New Hamp-
shire was an event long anticipated, and for which due preparation
had been made by state and town authorities. How the elaborate
programme of reception on the 22d of June, 1825, was carried out is
specifically told in a special chapter.

In the presidential campaign of 1828, early begun and warmly
prosecuted, political parties became more distinctly defined — one, as
the Adams, or National, Republican ; the other, as the Jackson, or
Democratic, Republican. The Adams party contained many that had
been Republicans, as against Federalists, under the old classification.
For instance, in Concord, such former Republicans as Adjutant-
General Joseph Low, Jacob B. Moore, — the latter associated with
Isaac Hill in the conduct of the Patriot till 1822, — Richard Bartlett,
secretary of state, Samuel Sparhawk, cashier of the upper bank, and
General Robert Davis, found themselves in party affiliation with
such former Federalists as William A. Kent, Stephen and Robert
Ambrose, Richard Bradley, Benjamin Gale, Abel, Charles, and
George Hutchins. The Jackson party was largely made up of old-
time Republicans; of whom in Concord were such as Isaac Hill,
William Low, Francis N. Fiske, Abel Baker, Jeremiah Pecker, and
Jonathan Eastman. Its newspaper organ was the New Hampshire
Patriot. The other party was supported by the Concord Register
and the New Hampshire Statesman separately till 1826, when the
two newspapers were united. In September of that year, also,
Jacob B. Moore, a printer and bookseller, commenced the publication
of the New Hampshire Journal, that should more definitely represent,
than did the Statesman and Register, the views of such of the Adams
party as were not originally Federalists. The new venture in jour-
nalism proved a success ; and with the business push and editorial
ability of the publisher, aided by the capable pen of Richard Bartlett,
the Journal, with its four thousand subscribers, became the strong
antagonist of the Patriot in the eleventh presidential contest. The
intense heat of that contest was felt in New Hampshire, and espe-
cially in its capital. The newspaper press on opposite sides of the
taut-drawn party line " gave no uncertain sound " ; and the fierce
blows dealt were fiercely returned. A corresponding antagonism
existed in the community. " I have not known a time," has written
Asa McFarland, "when the people of Concord stood in such hostile
attitude on each side the dividing line as in 1827, 1828, and 1829.

. . . There was a cessation of that harmony which has been,

NEW HAMPSHIRE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 365

and still is, a delightful element in Concord society, and that causes
the name of the city to be in the highest degree appropriate."

Politics developed able journalism ; but, outside the newspaper,
considerable literary activity was manifested within the last decade
of the period under review. This activity took a strong historical
turn, yet with many miscellaneous diversions, such as the efforts of
Nathaniel H. Carter — already noticed — and the productions in prose
and verse of George Kent, Philip Carrigain, Richard Bartlett, and
Mary Clark.

In 1821, John Farmer, a native of Chelmsford, .Massachusetts,
came from Amherst to Concord, at the age of thirty-two, and engaged
in business with Dr. Samuel Morril as an apothecary. But the
druggist had a genuine aptitude for antiquarian, genealogical, and
historical research, in which he labored with conscientious zeal and
eminent success. His work was of incontrovertible authority, crown-
ing his life of only forty-nine years with unfading honor. In Con-
cord he found appreciative and congenial companionship. His lit-
erary connection was especially close with Jacob B. Moore, " a
gentleman of much ability as a writer, well read in general litera-
ture,'' 1 fond of historical investigation, and a capable printer and
journalist. The two, in collaboration, prepared the " Gazeteer of
New Hampshire," which was published in 1823, and became the
model of many similar productions. The next year, appeared the
"Annals of Concord," the pioneer history of the town, prepared by
Mr. Moore with important material supplied by Mr. Farmer ; the
publication having been encouraged by the town in its vote authoriz-
ing the purchase of a sufficient number of copies to supply each
family with one. Somewhat later, the same industrious collaborators
gave to the public their valuable " Historical Collections " —a treas-
ury of antiquarian wealth.

Moreover, John Farmer, Jacob B. Moore, George Kent, and
Richard Bartlett attested their literary activity by co-operating with
William Plumer, Levi Woodbury, Ichabod Bartlett, Samuel D. Bell,
Salma Hale, and other intellectual spirits of that day, in the estab-
lishment of the New Hampshire Historical Society, the object of
which should be " to discover, procure, and preserve whatever may
relate to the natural, civil, literary, and ecclesiastical history of the
United States in general, and of" New Hampshire "in particular." 2
They were of the original thirty-one members of that society, formed
at Portsmouth on the 20th of May, 1823, incorporated by the legis-
lature on the thirteenth of the following June, and duly organized,
under a constitution, in the council chamber at Concord, on the

'Asa McFarland's Address before N. H. Printers' Association, 1872, pp. 39, 40.
2 Constitution of the Society.

366 HISTORY OF CONCORD.

evening of the very clay of incorporation. The society found in
Concord not only its permanent home, but also literary talent ready
to aid in promoting its worthy purposes. John Farmer became, in
1825, its corresponding secretary, and for the remaining thirteen
years of his life, dignified the office by eminent ability of service.
All the while, too, he was enriching the Society's Collections with
the fruits of diligent research, and doing other important work along
his favorite lines of effort, whereby his own fame became widespread
and reflected honor upon the society which he loved and served so
well, and which was never to lose, in its long succession of member-
ship through future years, the earnest, well-directed literary spirit of
its founders.

There was also manifested a growing intellectual interest in the
general mind of the community. In 1830 four bookstores existed, 1
providing for school wants, and supplying the larger public de-
mand for miscellaneous reading. A reading-room, supported b} r
the contributions of seventy subscribers, was opened on the 24th of
May, 1827, in the second story of a building occupying the site of
the later Sanborn's block. 2 Then there was "The Concord Mechanics'
Association," consisting of fifty master mechanics, having a library,
in 1830, of nearly one hundred volumes for the use of its members
and their apprentices. At the annual meeting of this organization,
on the 6th of January of that year, Richard Bartlett delivered an
address, and the following list of officers was chosen: George Hough,
president; Timothy Chandler and Isaac Eastman, vice-presidents;
Jacob B. Moore, treasurer and librarian ; Lewis Downing, Benjamin
Barker, William Restieaux, and David Allison, directors. 3

Literary amusement, in the form of dramatic entertainments. 4
enlivened Concord in July, 1828, — in the very heat of summer
and of a hotter presidential canvass. It was then that Gilbert cV
Trowbridge of Boston presented a series of plays at " Grecian hall *'
of the Eagle Coffee House, or at "Theatre Concord," as the bills
had it. The plays presented Monday evening, July 28, were Shake-
speare's " Othello," and a farce entitled " The Young Widow." The
performances were continued during the week, exclusive of Satur-
day. The company consisted of John Gilbert, Mr. and Mrs. Trow-
bridge, Mr. and Mrs. Ashley, and two or three others. Gilbert was
then only eighteen years of age, and was soon to make upon the
boards of the old "Tremont" in Boston his first appearance in
regular acting — the debut to a famous career of more than sixty

1 Directory.

2 Bouton's Concord, 202-3.

3 Newspapers; Bouton's Concord, 408.

4 See First Dramatic Entertainment, in note at close of chapter.

schools. 367

years upon the stage in Europe and America. The company,
having been urged to return in the fall, did so ; being, as they an-
nounced, " impressed with grateful recollections of the indulgence
experienced from their friends and the inhabitants of Concord."
This second engagement began on the 17th of November, and con-
tinued until the last week in December. The small orchestra was
led by the noted violinist, Abraham Pushee, of Lebanon. The
leading people of the town very generally gave this experimental
theatre their patronage ; and strangers dwelling fifty miles away
sometimes came to attend it.

Soon after the second theatrical presentation, two home dramatic
societies were formed : the " Evergreen Fraternity, 1 ' composed of
lads, and the " Myrtle Wreath,' 1 of young men. The theater was,
for a time, much in favor. But it had its enemies; for, in 1831, a
resolution was adopted in town-meeting " respectfully " requesting
"the selectmen not to grant a license permitting any theatrical corps,
circus, caravan, or any showmen to exhibit, or to be exhibited,
within the limits of the town during " the ensuing year. Histori-
cally, however, this sweeping resolution has more interest, as naming
the forms of popular amusement then prevalent, than as causing any
general or permanent desistance therefrom.

Among the subjects demanding at this period the attention of the
the community, the School was prominent, and the public interest
therein was healthy and well directed. The annual appropriation
increased twenty-five per cent, in the course of fifteen years ; rising
from one thousand dollars to twelve hundred and fifty. This con-
tinued until 1829, to be distributed among the districts, ac

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